The Deepwater Horizon Spill made international headlines in April 2010. The spill located in the Gulf of Mexico off the shores of Florida and the outlying regions in the Southern United States is a globally acknowledged catastrophe that will always be associated with off-shore drilling.
The British Petroleum Company has been criticized extensively and despite reparation payments of over $42 billion, their corporate image will always carry a tarnish. But what about other companies and their oil spills? Sure the spills may not be as large but are their environmental effects not just as troubling?
Another giant oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, also had a major spill that occurred prior to BP’s. A burst pipeline located on the Niger Delta region in 2008 has leaked approximately 600,000 barrels of oil into a local river and the environmental effects have been endless.
So what is the difference between Shell and BP? Shell’s spill occurred over five years ago and absolutely no reparation payments have been made. No effort to clean it up has occurred, and it has not been spread and distributed as an international issue.
Utilizing this contrast of events it can be inferred that in today’s global community the serious business responsibility issues that occur in developing countries can be easily ignored; while the countries lucky enough to have international interest enjoy media and multi-national governmental pressures.
Sources:
http://www.ibtimes.com/five-years-after-devastating-oil-spills-nigeria-shell-may-finally-cough-millions-1404212
Note: The last two links are dated a year apart. Same issue, with no action.