A/HRC/41/54 practices, such as the introduction of transgenic seeds, including against the will of indigenous peoples and people of African descent. Extractivist projects also result in contamination and overexploitation of water, which deprive these groups of this essential resource. 52. The environmental and health consequences of fundamental extractivist processes are well documented. In the mining context, the case of gold extraction using mercury and other chemicals is illustrative. One submission received for the present report highlights the environmental devastation in French Guiana caused by mercury poisoning, which results in cases of indigenous children being born with developmental disabilities. Another submission highlighted how a racially divided labour regime in South Africa, which protected whites but exposed non-whites to more dangerous jobs during the colonial era and apartheid, continued to be unjust even today. Non-white gold miners who had contracted silicosis under discriminatory conditions remain uncompensated to this day, and mining companies refuse to address fully the human rights violations for which they are responsible in this context. 53. A common method of extracting oil and natural gas from the ground – hydraulic fracturing or fracking – by its very nature alters the environment, and risks environmental harm.79 Despite claims that fracking is a safe method for extracting natural gas, there is evidence of its harmful effects on the environment and the health of local populations. 80 Fracking threatens human rights through air pollution, groundwater contamination and surface water pollution, all of which can lead to health problems. 81 For example, in 2011, a fracking well in the United States malfunctioned and spewed thousands of gallons of contaminated fracking water into the environment. 82 Also in the United States, a study found that drinking water near fracking wells had dangerous levels of methane. 83 As regards oil extraction, oil spills and other forms of oil contamination can be devastating. Consider the 2008 Royal Dutch Shell oil spill that poured tens of thousands of barrels of crude oil into the water around Bodo in Nigeria. 84 Fishing, which the local population in Bodo had relied upon heavily as a source of income, dried up for many families after the oil spill.85 Even alternative ways to earn money, such as farming or cutting firewood, were affected, as the oil spill had polluted the farmlands and forests, preventing normal growth. 86 In the 10 years since the oil spill, research has found that the average surface soil contamination has tripled.87 In 2015, Shell reached a settlement that resulted in a payout of approximately 600,000 Nigeria naira (about $3,000 at the time) to most claimants. 88 Sums of that size cannot come close to remedying the devastating effects of the spill on the affected communities. 54. Artisanal mining is a common practice in extracting gold, which is a flourishing industry in certain African, Asian and Latin American and countries. About half of the world’s estimated 30 million artisanal and small-scale miners are dedicated to gold-mining, and approximately 20 per cent of the world’s gold is produced through artisanal and other 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/issues/fracking/environmental-impacts-water; and www.livescience.com/34464-what-is-fracking.html. Ibid. Ibid. https://pennenvironment.org/sites/environment/files/reports/PA_Close_Fracking_scrn.pdf, p. 21. See Stephen G. Osborn and others, “Methane contamination of drinking water accompanying gaswell drilling and hydraulic fracturing”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 108, No. 20. See Scott Pegg and Nenibarini Zabbey, “Oil and water: the Bodo spills and the destruction of traditional livelihood structures in the Niger Delta”, Community Development Journal, vol. 48, No. 3; and www.amnestyusa.org/files/afr440182011en.pdf. Ibid. www.amnestyusa.org/files/afr440182011en.pdf. David I. Little and others, “Sediment hydrocarbons in former mangrove areas, Southern Ogoniland, Eastern Niger Delta, Nigeria”, in Threats to Mangrove Forests: Hazards, Vulnerability, and Management, Christopher Makowski and Charles W. Finkl, eds. (Cham, Springer, 2018), p. 342. www.leighday.co.uk/News/2015/January-2015/Shell-agrees-55m-compensation-deal-for-Nigeria-Del. 15