An environmental study found "astonishingly high" pollution levels with soil "literally soaked with hydrocarbons," geologist Kay Holtzmann wrote in a letter to the Bodo Mediation Initiative. The people of Bodo in the oil-producing southern Niger Delta should get urgent medical tests, Holtzmann wrote in the letter dated Jan. 26 and seen by The Associated Press. "Leigh Day has been pushing for the cleanup of Bodo, health screening of the population and testing of the water supply since 2011 - all to no avail," it said. The environmental tests were carried out in August 2015 with support from Shell's headquarters in The Hague, the letter said. Bodo is part of Ogoniland, where the failure to clean up oil spills was called an environmental scandal in 2011 by the U.N.

Source: ABC News March 24, 2017 11:42 UTC