Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Claims Against Shell for Oil Spill

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, May 26 2007 (IPS) - Eight years after an oil spill along the Rio de la Plata coast, Argentine residents who were affected are demanding that the transnational Shell Oil company clean up the river and pay for damages. The 1999 spill near Magdalena, a town 100 km south of Buenos Aires, occurred when a German ship ran into Shell's tanker Estrella Pampeana, which was carrying 30,000 tons of crude oil.

Since then, the government of this town of 10,000 people who make their living from weekend tourism from Buenos Aires has been calling for a deep cleaning of the area, as the original clean-up was only superficial. Residents are making a legal case for reparations. “We want clean up, and payment for losses and damages,” resident Rubén Cosimano told Tierramérica.

The lawsuit includes 500 plaintiffs, including retailers, unemployed scrap collectors and farmers.