3/27 Shell Pollutes Turkey Aquifer: U.S. Version

[the.greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org]

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Original-TO:      World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-Cc:      The Greenbase (Green2:Green2:Gnl:Main)
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                   GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
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   SHELL INTENTIONALLY POLLUTED AQUIFER IN TURKEY  
 
WASHINGTON, March 27 -- Shell, the multinational oil company
has systematically and knowingly polluted a huge underground
reservoir of drinking water near the city of Diyarbakir in
Turkey, Greenpeace revealed yesterday.
 
Internal Shell documents leaked to Greenpeace show that Shell
has pumped 487.5 million barrels of toxic production waters
into the Midyat aquifer between 1973 and 1994, with an
additional 172 million barrels to have been injected into the
aquifer by the end of 2001.  The toxic waste is a by-product
of drilling operations in Shell's nearby Mardin oil field, and
contains crude oil, solvents and other chemicals.
 
Although Shell has been aware of the problem for years, only
yesterday, after Greenpeace revealed the extent of Shell's
damage, did Shell agree to the Turkish government's demand
that they monitor the pollution. Shell has yet to accept
financial or legal responsibility for the pollution of the
Midyat aquifer. 
 
The leaked documents further revealed that Shell managers
deliberately disregarded Turkish regulations by injecting the
polluted water into the Midyat, instead of using a costlier,
but environmentally safer disposal option.
 
"Around the world, Shell's policy seems to be that human life

and the environment are merely the cost of doing business,"
said Steve Kretzmann. "The facts are clear, and the conclusion
simple: monitoring the problem is not enough.  Shell needs to
take responsibility for their pollution and clean it up."
 
Yesterday's revelations came on the same day Shell Germany
admitted a 40 percent drop in profits from their gas station
sector, due in part to consumer boycotts over Shell's plans
last year to dump their Brent Spar oil platform into the North
Sea.  Shell has also taken international heat for wreaking
havoc on Nigeria's environment through oil drilling, and for
complicity in the brutal suppression of protest by Nigerian
environmental activists.
 
Shell sold the Mardin oil operation to multinational company
Perenco last year.  
                                         -ends-
 
CONTACT:     
Steve Kretzmann, Greenpeace (Washington, DC): 202-319-2515     
Deborah Rephan, Greenpeace News Desk: 202-319-2492             
Ms. Zeynep Yontem, Turkish Ministry for the Environment
(Ankara)                011-90-312-287-9969 or 9963
 
Note: Copies of all confidential Shell documents and memos are
available through Greenpeace, as well as reports and graphics
on Shell's operations in Turkey.. 
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