(Adds context,)
By Bart H. Meijer
AMSTERDAM, Jan 29 (Reuters) - A Dutch appeals court on
Friday held Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian subsidiary
responsible for multiple oil pipeline leaks in the Niger Delta
and ordered it to pay unspecified damages to farmers, in a
victory for environmentalists.
The case was brought in 2008 by four farmers and
environmental group Friends of the Earth, seeking reparations
for lost income from contaminated land and waterways in the
region, the heart of Nigeria's oil industry.
Although only Shell subsidiary SPDC was found to be
directly responsible, the Dutch ruling could open the door for
more environmental cases against oil companies.
It also adds to Shell's legal woes. In November, it lost a
Nigerian high court case that could lead to $44 million in
damages for spills.
In March, a Milan court is set to deliver a verdict in one
of the oil industry’s biggest ever corruption trials in Italy,
involving Italy's Eni and Shell.
Friday's decision went a step further than a 2013 ruling by
a lower court, saying that Shell's Nigerian subsidiary was
responsible for multiple cases of oil pollution.
The appeals judge sided with the farmers in four of six
spills covered by the lawsuit and postponed a verdict in the
remaining cases, where the lower court had previously found SPDC
responsible.
Shell said in a statement it continues to believe the spills
were caused by sabotage.
"We are therefore disappointed that this court has made a
different finding on the cause of these spills and in its
finding that SPDC is liable."
The appeals court said Shell had not proven "beyond
reasonable doubt" that the oil spills had been caused by
sabotage, rather than poor maintenance.
"This makes Shell Nigeria responsible for the damage caused
by the leaks," the court said.
Friends of the Earth said the ruling exceeded all
expectations and marked the first time a multinational had been
instructed by a Dutch court to uphold a duty of care for foreign
operations.
The Dutch appeals court did not hold Shell's parent company,
Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell, directly responsible, but
ordered it to install a leak detection system on the Oruma
pipeline, the source of several spills in the case.
"This is fantastic news for the environment and people
living in developing countries," said Friends of the Earth's
Netherlands head Donald Pols. It creates legal grounds to "take
on the multinationals who do them harm".
Shell settled a similar case in a British court in 2015,
agreeing to pay 70 million euros ($85 million) to members of the
Niger Delta Bodo community.
The spills addressed by the court case occurred between 2004
and 2007, but pollution from leaking oil pipelines remains a
major problem in the Niger Delta.
($1 = 0.8241 euros)
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Writing by Anthony Deutsch; Editing
by Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan and Jan Harvey)
