AFTER 15 years, Shell oil company and Christ Church farmers angered by an aviation fuel leak on their lands have finally settled the issue of compensation. Minister of Agriculture, Haynesley Benn, welcomed the financial settlement yesterday, saying: “It makes my heart rejoice” that after so many years farmers “have been able to bring closure to this matter”.Shell initially offered the farmers $2 million in compensation and later was reported to have raised the offer to $5.5 million, but both sides have kept mum on the size of the new compensation package.The deal was announced in a statement released by Shell. It is expected to cover 25 of about 33 Christ Church farmers and landowners in a region that includes Gibbons Boggs, Wilcox, Pegwell, Chancery Lane and Ealing Grove.A dozen or so farmers had reached a settlement with Shell in 2008, after turning their backs on efforts to negotiate as a group with the multinational company.Shell had faced two lawsuits over the impact the 1995 and 2003 aviation jet A-1 fuel leaks from its Grantley Adams International Airport/Oistins Terminal pipeline had on nearly 200 acres of farmland and on the communities. The farmers had charged that oil spilling from the seven-mile pipeline wrecked crops, contaminated water supplies, reduced the fertility of the soil, caused a decline in production and earnings and forced some people out of agriculture. The latest settlement was announced after negotiations between Shell Western Supply & Trading Company Ltd and Hausfeld LLP, an international legal firm with the motto: “Global wrongs must be accountable to global rights. “Hausfeld LLP was represented in Barbados by Virtus Legal, Alrick Scott’s law firm.The statement said Shell Western confirmed that the two sides “have reached an amicable settlement in both the lawsuits pertaining to the former underground aviation fuel line”. “We are happy that the farmers, landowners and Shell have been able to reach a mutual agreement and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the various parties who have demonstrated an interest in this matter and have offered support in its resolution,” general manager of Shell Western, Ian Charman, stated. (TY)
