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- Info
RAID et al. vs. Glencore UK
Case overview
| Date filed |
10
September
2020
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| Current status |
Filed
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| Issue |
Providing products and services to Isreali prison system
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| Summary of the case |
On 10 September 2020, RAID and Chadian organisations the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) and the Association of Young Chadians of the Petroleum Zone (Association des Jeunes Tchadiens de la Zone Petroliere - AJTZP) filed a specific instance at the United Kingdom NCP. The complaint concerns Glencore UK Ltd’s oil operations at the Badila oilfield in southern Chad. The filing marks the two-year anniversary of a toxic wastewater spill on 10 September 2018 when a basin that was holding produced water, a by-product of crude oil production, collapsed. Eighty-five million litres of wastewater flooded agricultural fields before pouring into the local river. According to residents, the basin had been leaking weeks before it collapsed, but Glencore failed to properly address the problem or to warn local residents about the impending danger. A few weeks later, local residents also reported an oil pipe leak. The incidents left at least 50 local residents living near Glencore’s oil operations with burns, skin lesions, sickness and diarrhoea after bathing in or using the contaminated river water. Many of those harmed were children, some of whom required hospitalisation. Livestock drinking from the river also died. Local residents say Glencore has still not acknowledged the harm caused or provided remedy. More recently, on 21 July 2020, a second spill occurred at the Badila oilfield from a waste oil sump, further contaminating the local environment and the river.
The complaint is the first filed against Glencore in the UK and alleges several breaches of the OECD Guidelines, including flawed environmental due diligence, violation of human rights provisions including access to clean water, the right to health and the right to an adequate standard of living, as well as a lack of meaningful engagement with local residents and inadequate social investment in one of the poorest places in the world. Of note, the complaint highlights particular impacts of the breaches on women and children.
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| Developments/Outcome |
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| Relevant OECD Guidelines |
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| Case keywords |
Health and safety,
Extractives / mining sector,
Human rights,
Environment,
Energy sector
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NCP Information
Complainants
Company Information
| Company responsible |
Glencore UK Ltd
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| Company address |
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| Company website |
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| Company in violation |
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| Country of operations |
Chad
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| Other companies involved |
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Timeline of developments
| Date |
Actor |
Action |
Description |
Document |
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10
September
2020
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Rights and Accountability in Development |
file |
Complaint filed to UK NCP |
download pdf
(1629Kb)
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10
September
2020
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Rights and Accountability in Development |
press release |
Complainants' press release at filing |
download pdf
(376Kb)
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