Shell in Court Over Nigeria Pollution Charges-英语课

时间：2019-02-04 作者：英语课 分类：英语新闻

英语课

Shell in Court Over Nigeria Pollution Charges

LONDON — The international oil and gas company Royal Dutch Shell was in court Thursday facing charges of polluting Nigerian villages. The case has been brought in a civil court in The Hague by four Nigerian farmers and the environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth.

The farmers are from the Ogoniland region of southern Nigeria and say they can no longer work or feed their families because oil spills in the area have damaged crops and fish farms.
"Communities in Ogoniland had been badly contaminated," said Eric Dooh, one of the Nigerian plaintiffs. "Some communities are deserted 1, like my community, Goi, in Ogoniland, has been deserted as a result of devastation 2 of the ecosystem 3 and our environment. My father had four big fish farms."
Ogoniland in the Niger Delta 4 has been a major source of crude oil for decades and Shell is the top multinational 5 operating in the area.
The plaintiffs say the oil operations have resulted in major pollution that has devastated 6 vegetation, water supplies and fishing ponds.
They want Shell to clean up the pollution and ensure pipelines 7 are maintained and kept secure to prevent future leaks.
But Shell says it has done what it can to contain the impact of its operations. Spills, it says, are largely the result of sabotage 8 by armed gangs who hack 9 into pipelines.
"We went in, we stopped the leak, we cleaned it," said Allard Castelein, vice 10 president for environment at Shell. "There is a process that involves a joint 11 investigation 12, of government officials, community officials and company officials, they jointly 13 signed off on the fact that it was caused by sabotage."
Last year the United Nations published a report that blamed multinational oil companies - and especially Shell - along with the Nigerian government for devastating 14 environmental impacts in the Niger Delta.
The report said cleaning up the area would cost $1 billion and take 25 years.
The environmental group Friends of the Earth says it hopes the court case in The Hague will mark a precedent 15.
"What we expect today is that outcome of this case will be that Shell is convicted for polluting the environment, for not properly maintaining its pipelines in Nigeria and for harming millions of people, polluting their drinking water, depleting 16 their fish stocks, ruining their crop lands as a result of oil pollution," said Gerrit Ritsema, a coordinator 17 at Friends of the Earth.
The case has been filed against the Nigerian subsidiary of Shell - the Shell Petroleum 18 Development Company - and against Royal Dutch Shell, the parent company with global headquarters in the Netherlands. A verdict is not expected until next year.

1 deserted

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

2 devastation

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。来自《简明英汉词典》

3 ecosystem

n.生态系统

This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

4 delta

n.（流的）角洲

He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

5 multinational

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

6 devastated

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的