Umweltverbrechen multinationaler Konzerne - Greenpeace

Range of damage,
amount of loss
Legal and/or public
action taken
Subsequent
behaviour of company
Large quantities of expired, prohibited and unwanted drins are in
storage world-wide 144 . In many cases the storage facilities are
inadequate and packaging of the drins are in a very bad condition.
Exposure of workers, local communities and the environment to
these very toxic pesticides cannot be excluded and accidents with
these old pesticides can easily happen.
The range of damage as result of the production of drins in the
Netherlands 145 and the US 146 has been very high. Costly remedial
measures have been going on for 20 years.
The amount of loss for other effects of drins (contamination in Brazil,
intoxication and exposure of and cleanup of stockpiles) has not been
clearly identified.
Shell has been held liable for clean up during the 1980s in both the
US and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands Shell successfully
defended itself against a liability claim by the Dutch government.
Removal of contamination has been largely paid for by the Dutch
government 147 .
In the Rocky Mountain Arsenal case Shell had to pay a part of the
costs for clean up 148 . No known legal actions have been taken after
the exposure of people to drins. The cases of safe removal of
existing stockpiles of drins in industrialising countries has not been
brought to court.
Although the use of drins have been virtually banned in countries like
the USA and the Netherlands since the late 1970s due to known
toxic effects, Shell continued the production and sales to
industrialising countries up until 1992. Today, the drins are also
banned by the United Nations (UN) because they are associated
with the incidence of cancer and reproductive, endocrine and
immune system dysfunctions. Ironically these persistent pesticides
also tend to distribute globally and return to the countries of
production as well.
The existence of stockpiles of these banned and obsolete pesticides
in very bad conditions is known by Shell and other pesticide
producing companies 149 . Shell has removed some of the drin
stockpiles and drin waste from some African countries. But the
pesticide companies and Shell refuse to take full responsibility for the
removal of all the stockpiles. Several known stockpiles, including
drins, have not been treated and continue putting the local
communities and environment at great risk.
Legal outcome Only in the US and partly in the Netherlands Shell has had to pay
part of the costs. As far as is known, Shell has not been held liable
for intoxications and for the costs of removal of obsolete pesticides
stockpiles.
145 The Dutch state had claimed for example NLG 150 million for cleanup of the dumpsite in Gouderak
146 Total costs for cleanup Rocky Mountain Arsenal estimated at 1,8 billion dollar in 1989
147 Verboden drins maken nog steeds slachtoffers, Rene Didde, Volkskrant, 27 oktober 1990
148 http://www.pmrma-www.army.mil/htdocs/cleanup/clnfrm.html
149
Bayer and Shell in Nepal, obsolete pesticides in the Himalayas, obsolete pesticides – a global problem,
Andreas Bernstorff and Eco Matser, Greenpeace 2002
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