23 April 2007
Press Release
Injustices by Shell Oil are the Focus of 'Nobel Prize' for
the Environmental Movement
On Monday, 23 April, William Corduff, a lifetime resident
of Rossport, a sparsely populated farming community in North
Mayo County, Ireland will be awarded the prestigious Goldman
Environmental Prize [1] in recognition of his resistance,
along with his local community, against Shell Oil’s
illegally-approved pipeline through their land. [2]
What is significant about this year’s award is that
it once again awards community resistance against Shell Oil.
On two previous occasions Shell Oil was the focus, first in
Nigeria, when Ken Saro Wiwa [3] received the Goldman Environmental
Prize in 1995 and then in 1998 when Margie Richards [4] was
awarded the prize for her work in Louisiana, in the United
States. In 1998 Bobby Peek, a resident of Durban, received
the award for his work with the south Durban community, resisting
multinational corporations in south Durban, where Shell Oil
operates the biggest South African oil refinery.
groundWork (Friends of the Earth, South Africa – www.gorundwork.org.za)
and the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA
– www.sdcea.org.za) have been part of the global Shell
Accountability Campaign because of Shell Oil’s activities
in south Durban which have resulted in Shell Oil’s pipelines
leaking more than one million litres of petrol under community
homes.
The Shell Accountability Campaign was started in 2002 with
the release of the book ‘Riding the Dragon’ [5]
which documents Shell Oil’s impacts globally. Since
2002, the Campaign has grown to include community groups from
four continents and non-governmental organisations such as
Friends of the Earth International [6] and, in the US, Global
Community Monitor [7] and Environmental Health Fund.
Shell Oil planned to start off shore gas production in 2003
near Rossport, bringing toxic, unrefined gas ashore at Rossport
via a high pressure pipeline stretching six miles to a refinery
which was to be constructed in neighbouring Bellanaboy. Despite
objections by many Rossport citizens, Shell was granted permission
by the Irish government to run the pipeline across the property
of more than two dozen farmers and landowners.
In response, William Corduff and his neighbours began a grassroots
campaign to rally the support of their fellow Rossport residents
in challenging the pipeline. In June 2005, after refusing
Shell access to their property, William Corduff and four other
men were jailed. Known as the “Rossport Five,”
they were released after spending 94 days in jail.
William Corduff [in print Willie Corduff]:
“The bottom line is we will not lie down. We can not.
There is too much at stake. We’d have to leave our homes
if we were to accept this. We have to protect ourselves, because
no one else will.”
Desmond D’Sa:
“We applaud Willie and his community who have resisted
the Shell Oil corporate juggernaut, even if it meant going
to prison for their beliefs. As residents of south Durban
we feel their pain and stand in solidarity with the community
of Rossport”
For more information:
- Bobby Peek: groundWork 082-464-1383
- Desmond D’Sa: South Durban Community Environmental
Alliance 083 982 6939
Footnotes:
[1] Information on the Goldman Environmental Prize can be
found at http://www.goldmanprize.org/
[2] Information on the resistance by the Rossport Community
against Shell Oil at http://www.corribsos.com/
[3] Information on Ken Sao Wiwa and the Ogoni Struggle can
be found at
http://www.goldmanprize.org/node/160 and http://www.remembersarowiwa.org/
[4] Information on Margie Richards and the Norco Shell struggle
can be found at http://www.goldmanprize.org/node/100
[5] Excerpts from the book are online here: http://www.shellfacts.com/article.php?list=type&type=19
[6] For more information Global on Community Monitor see
http://www.gcmonitor.org/
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