Letter: Mess that Shell cleaned up

Anita Roddick uses a report from a campaigning group to shore up her argument (18 May). She writes: "Shell says it has not operated in Ogoni for four years, yet independent researchers found [its] legacy in drinking water polluted by oil effluents to levels 680 times higher than permitted European levels."

This, I assume, refers to a piece in the report which claims that a burst pipe at Ukpeleide (which is not in Ogoni) led to contamination of water. In fact this claim related only to the immediate vicinity of the burst pipe; we are left to assume a more widespread condition. Also, the leak was caused by sabotage (caught on video), not by Shell Nigeria, which acted to clean it up.

The report and Ms Roddick also talk of "arsenals of automatic weapons". These do not exist.

Karen de Segundo

Shell, London SE1