Shell pursued over community agreement
Dec
1
Written by:
01/12/2011 15:37
Oil company reneged on promises say campaigners
Reuters has reported that a Canadian first nation group is suing Shell for a failure to deliver on environmental commitments.
The Athabasca Chipewyan peoples are seeking C$1.5 million from Shell for allegedly blocking requests for money to be used for sustainable development and education.
The third largest tar sands mining operation in Canada, run by Shell, is in the aboriginal group's territory and the funding was meant to help mitigate the impacts of the mining.
The Athabasca Chipewyan said the company is now trying to change the terms of the funding that were made under agreements in 2003 and 2006.
"We came in good faith, always willing to talk with them," Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam told Reuters on Wednesday. "Shell played the role of tough guy and refused to deal with us on the terms we negotiated."
Shell told Reuters the dispute amounts to a fraction of the more than C$200 million the company has spent on initiatives in the community over the past five years under its "good neighbour" program.
This story has been added to our corporate database. The database powers all our live buyers' guides, giving the score for each company on our rankings tables.