Claims against the Shell oil company continue despite the fact that the company last week paid 600,000 dollars to 40 Argentine families to withdraw the lawsuits related to the oil spill along the coast of Magdalena, in Buenos Aires province. The families made their living from the juncos that were contaminated by the 1999 spill resulting from the collision of Shell's Estrella Pampeana tanker with another boat.

The vessel spilled 5,300 cubic meters of crude, contaminating the water, flora and fauna in the area.

The municipal government will press for compliance with the judicial order issued in 2003 for 35 million dollars in environmental reparations. Shell says it has already carried out its obligations, while the local authorities say the company conducted only a “superficial” clean-up.

City attorney Daniel Silva told Tierramérica that the cost of the reparation came from an official investigation of the damages, much of which is irreversible. He said Shell tried to reach a settlement with the municipal government as it had with the local families, but that its proposal was “unacceptable”.