Archived press release

Dirty dossier on Shell's Sakhalin II Project presented to funders

20 May 2006

Sakhalin's unique wildlife habitats are being damaged by construction work for Shell's pipeline

International campaigners protest at London Annual Meeting of the EBRD

The oil giant Shell will face a further barrage of criticism for its Sakalin II Energy Project this weekend, when campaigners target the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which is being asked to fund the project. Representatives from Sakhalin Environment Watch, accompanied by other environmental campaigners from around the world [1], will present a dossier of evidence about environmental problems with the project.

Campaigners will also present the EBRD's President with 10,000 signatures collected from people on the island calling on the Bank to deny financial support to Shell.

Sakhalin Environment Watch is also calling for a meeting with the Bank to raise concerns about a number of cases where Sakhalin Energy - majority-owned by Shell - has breached Russian environmental legislation, intended to protect rivers and salmon spawning grounds on the island.

Campaigners mount their protest at the Bank's Annual Meeting [2], just days after questions from shareholders at Shell's own AGM about environmental failures on the project. But the oil giant continues to dismiss concerns raised, including the report by whale experts warning of the impact of the new platform on the last remaining population of Western Pacific Grey Whales [3].

Friends of the Earth's Sakhalin Campaigner Mary Taylor said:

"Shell's Sakhalin project is an environmental disaster zone and clearly breaches the company's own Business Principles and the environmental policies set out by EBRD. Shell's greed for oil and gas is leading to the destruction of precious wildlife habitat, endangering the last remaining population of Western Pacific Grey Whales and threatening the livelihoods of the local population. EBRD must not be allowed to give their stamp of approval to this project."

Campaigners are concerned that the oil and gas platforms are close to the summer feeding grounds of the last 100 or so Western Pacific Gray Whales, adding to the threat of extinction because of disruption from shipping, noise and potential oil spills.

They also point to the 800 km of pipelines running from north to south of the island which cross through around 1000 rivers, many of them fine salmon- rivers. Construction work has caused mud to harm water quality and rivers will be vulnerable to potential future oil spills. The pipeline crosses earthquake fault lines.

They also say that more than a million tonnes of waste from construction work for the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) plant on the island has been dumped in Aniva Bay, an economically important fishing area. Around one-third of Sakhalin Island's residents depend on the fishing industry.

Sakhalin Environment Watch Chairman, Dmitry Lisitsyn - recent winner of the prestigious environmental Whitley Awards - said:

"Shell is trampling roughshod through Russian environmental legislation and ignoring the concerns raised by people on the island. We are not being treated properly by the oil giant. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development must listen to these concerns and not endorse Shell's bad practice on Sakhalin."

Friends of the Earth is calling on the UK Government to introduce amendments to the Company Law Reform Bill to make companies like Shell more accountable for their environmental impacts overseas [4]. The environmental campaign group says Shell can clearly not be trusted to adopt higher standards voluntarily and tighter legislation is clearly required.

Beta broadcast footage showing Sakhalin's unique wildlife, including footage of construction work and of the Western Pacific Grey Whales, is available from the press office at Friends of the Earth.

Notes

[1] Campaigners, including from from Sakhalin Environment Watch, Pacific Environment, Friends of the Earth, CEE Bankwatch, Campaign Whale, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Marine Connection and WWF, will be protesting to the Bank at Shell's behaviour on Sakhalin.

[2] The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's "Annual Meeting and Business Forum" takes place at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel, Edgware Road from Sunday 21 - Monday 22 May 2006. Campaigners will speak at a press conference at the meeting on Monday 22 May at 11.30am. A letter and photographs of Sakhalin and the construction work will be presented to the Bank at 12.30pm (Monday 22 May) outside the Hilton London Metropole Hotel.

[3] The Independent Scientific Review Panel, organised by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, includes internationally renowned experts in whales and off-shore oil and gas projects.
www.iucn.org/themes/business/Docs/ISRP_Report_with_covers_low_res.pdf (PDF)

For Shell's response to concerns raised by shareholders at its AGM (16/5/06), see www.shell.com/static/investoren/downloads/shareholder/ ¬
agm/2006/shell_agm_2006_notice_of_meeting_english.pdf (PDF†)

[4] For more information on the Company Law Reform Bill and the need for amendments to increase corporate accountability see: www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporates/press_for_change/company_law_697/

Image © Sakhalin Environment Watch

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust