Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
As the seriousness of Brooklyn's environmental pollution became clear in the first
decade of this century, Greenpoint residents, local environmental groups, Riverkeeper,
the borough of Brooklyn, and Attorney General Cuomo increased pressure on
ExxonMobil to accelerate and expand its cleanup efforts. Finally, in mid-November
2010, the company agreed to settle with Cuomo (by then the state's governor-elect);
speed the cleaning of the water, soil, and air in Greenpoint; and pay $25 million in pen-
alties , damages, environmental restoration fees, and future costs. It was the largest single
payment of its kind in state history.
ExxonMobil officials said they were “pleased” that the settlement resolved numerous
legal actions and vowed the company would “remain in Greenpoint until the remedi-
ation effort is done—and done right.” Paul Gallay, the Hudson Riverkeeper's executive
director, hailed the settlement as “an historic turning point,” which it was. Yet it did not
resolve the two class-action suits, in which residents such as Sebastian Pirozzi are seek-
ing billions of dollars' worth of restitution for harm to their property values and for po-
tential health costs related to the oil spill.
“After all we've been through, I hope we can [resolve] the lawsuit soon,” said Pirozzi.
“It's taken so long. But whatever happens, it's not going to change my cancer. I still have
some bitterness about that.”
THE WORST OIL SPILL IN HISTORY
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon, a drill rig contracted by BP to prospect for
oil miles beneath the Gulf of Mexico, suffered a catastrophic blowout and exploded in
a giant fireball that could be seen from thirty-five miles away. The disaster killed elev-
en men, sank one of the world's most sophisticated drilling platforms, and spewed at
least 2.5 million gallons of oil per day into the Gulf—equivalent to an ExxonValdezspill
every four days. Eighty-six days later, BP managed to cap the well. The Coast Guard
predicted it could take years to remediate the giant oil slick, which threatened seashores
in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and freshwater supplies as it entered
tributary rivers. The Justice Department initiated a criminal investigation to determine
if environmental laws had been violated, and BP's CEO was forced to resign.
The BP oil spill has been widely described as “ the worst environmental disaster in
the nation's history.” Given the gravity and magnitude of the calamity, it is tempting to
accept this headline, but it is not entirely accurate.
We tend to think of oil spills as dramatic events—crude carriers impaled on Alaskan
rocks, a blowout shooting geysers of oil into the Texas desert, a burning platform sink-
ing into the Gulf of Mexico. But these cases are the exception rather than the rule. Spec-
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