A major new independent scientific assessment, carried out by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), shows that pollution from over 50 years of oil operations in the region has penetrated further and deeper than many may have supposed…and action to protect human health and reduce the risks to affected communities should occur without delay…In at least 10 Ogoni communities where drinking water is contaminated with high levels of hydrocarbons, public health is seriously threatened, according to the assessment… In one community, at Nisisioken Ogale…families are drinking water from wells that is contaminated with benzene...a known carcinogen--at levels over 900 times above World Health Organization guidelines. The site is close to a Nigerian National Petroleum Company pipeline…Among its other findings are:…[that] the Shell Petroleum Development Company’s own procedures have not been applied, creating public health and safety issues.