Shell and BASF to appeal ruling
Royal Dutch Shell and German chemicals maker BASF plan to appeal a Brazilian court ruling on health injuries related to pollution at a former pesticide plant. A Brazilian court has sentenced BASF and Shell to pay £1.1bn Brazilian real (£403m) for soil and ground water pollution. “We expect that the Brazilian courts at a higher level will eventually establish that we were not responsible for alleged health impacts and other claims,” a Shell spokesman said yesterday. BASF also plans to appeal, arguing former owner Shell was to blame, a BASF spokeswoman said. Shell built the factory in the 1970s and sold it to chemicals manufacturer Cyanamid in 1995. BASF bought the site in 2000 and produced pesticides there for only two years before shutting it down, the spokeswoman said. Since 2008, the owner of the plant is Shell again.