Just got this in the mail today. Any other oil disasters you know of that are still happening and not reported?
Now for our "What in the World" segment, if you thought the earth could perhaps breathe a little easier last week after BP finally got its massive leak under control, think again. While crude oil might no longer have been flooding into the Gulf of Mexico, chances are quite good that at that very moment oil was spilling on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Oil spills occur in Nigeria just about every day - literally. Over 300 spills every year, and we're not talking about small spills. Environmental groups estimate that almost 600 million gallons of oil have spilled into the Niger River delta in the last 50 years since oil was first struck there. Now, I want you to think for a minute. Before the BP oil spill, what was the biggest oil spill you'd ever heard of? I'm guessing that what comes to your mind was the Exxon Valdez. Well, Amnesty International estimates that the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez-sized oil spill has occurred in the Niger Delta every year for the last 50 years, and much of that spilled oil has never been cleaned up, leaving undrinkable water and dying wildlife in its wake. Now, BP has set up a $20 billion compensation fund for fishermen and others affected in the Gulf of Mexico, but there are no comparable funds in Nigeria. What Nigeria does have is a generous profit- splitting agreement where the government of Nigeria gets about 60 percent of the oil profits and the oil companies get about 40 percent, and the government's money is supposed to get invested back in the delta. But, according to residents, the only thing trickling back to them is the leaking oil. So where has all that money gone? Well, the World Bank says that over the last 30 years $300 billion of Nigeria's oil revenue has virtually disappeared, probably to some Swiss bank accounts. The trickle down to the Niger delta is so small and the damage to the area so great that it has literally started a war. Local gangs, angry with the big oil companies, have been kidnapping and killing oil company executives and blowing up their pipes for years now. Shell, one of the biggest targets, says that 90 percent of their oil that was spilled in 2009 was due to sabotage or attempted theft, only 10 percent because of operational problems. A world away from the Gulf of Mexico, Nigeria and its spills might seem like someone else's problem. But, keep in mind, nearly half of Nigeria's daily oil production goes to the United States.