Onder 1.1 Gerechtshof Den Haag 18 december 2015

The reason for the dispute was an oil spill from a hole in a subterraneous 24 inch oil pipeline near the village of Goi in Ogoniland, in Rivers State, a state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. An estimated quantity of approximately 150 barrels of oil leaked from this hole, in addition to which an oil fire raged locally. Milieudefensie et al. assert that the fault of the spillage and the resulting damage - or more precisely: the (environmental) damage to the fish ponds and agricultural land used by Eric Dooh / Eric Dooh’s father - is due to wrongful acts and negligence of (i) SPDC as operator of the pipeline, but also of (ii) RDS as head of the Shell Group and, via group companies, shareholder in SPDC, and of (iii) Shell Petroleum and Shell T&T, who formerly jointly played this role of parent company/indirect shareholder. The claims instigated on these grounds by Milieudefensie et al. seek to hold Shell liable for the (consequential) damages, and to have Shell ordered to remedy the soil and water pollution and make provisions for the prevention of new leakages and environmental damages. The District Court dismissed all claims, ruling that the spill resulted from sabotage - in the shape of a 46 cm long saw-cut in the upper side of the pipeline between the twelve o’clock and two o’clock positions - and not, as Milieudefensie et al. had primarily asserted, from insufficient maintenance (corrosion). The appeal lies against this dismissal and the underlying grounds given.

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