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H οικολογική καταστροφή από το ατύχημα του Exxon Valdez στην Αλάσκα την 24.03.1989


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Source: MGN
A report from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that crude oil from the Exxon Valdez spill is still present in Prince William Sound. The remaining oil is dissipating at a rate of only 4% per year in the Sound and even more slowly in the Gulf of Alaska, according to NOAA. Exxon maintains that previous research shows no long-term impact. The NOAA report is due to be published in a fortnight in the journal of the American Chemical Society.

Edited by proud_ionian
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source: MGN

THE US Supreme Court yesterday (250608) drastically reduced the amount of puntive damges Exxon Mobil must pay for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, from US$2.5bn to $500m.

In a majority ruling the court said that punitive dmages ought to be "reasonably predictable" and not more than the compensation of $500 already paid by the company.

Yesterday's decision closes a case started when an Alaskan jury set a record $5bn figure in 1994. The sum was later cut by 50% on appeal but Exxon took the matter all the way to the Supreme Court

Exxon has spent $3.4bnto compensate victims, clean up the spill, and pay settlements and fines. Spokesman Tony Cudmore said the company doesn't believe further punishment is warranted. He said: "The Valdez oil spill was a tragic accident and one which the corporation deeply regrets," Exxon said Wednesday in a prepared statement. "The company cleaned up the spill and voluntarily compensated more than 11,000 Alaskans and businesses."

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25 χρονια εκλεισαν την 24.03, απο την οικολογικη καταστροφη που προκαλεσε η προσαραξη του Exxon Valdez στην Αλασκα.

Περα απο την ανεπανορθωτη ζημια που προκαλεσε η γιγαντιαια διαρροη πετρελαιου, το ατυχημα ηταν αφορμη για τον αμερικανικο νομο OPA 90 και τις μετεπειτα τροποποιησεις στους κανονισμους για τα δεξαμενοπλοια (διπλα τοιχωματα κλπ).

 

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Edited by proud_ionian
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Ο σύνδεσμος που παρατέθηκε παραπάνω έχει και μια αρκετά λεπτομερή καταγραφη του δικαστικού αγώνα ο οποίος τύποις έκλεισε το 2009 με την καταβολή από πλευράς exxon 507 εκ. δολλαρίων.

 

As of December 15, 2009, Exxon paid all owed $507.5 million punitive damages, including lawsuit costs, plus interest, which were further distributed to thousands of plaintiffs

 

20 χρόνια μετά το δυστύχημα ! :o

 

Ενδιαφέρον έχουν κι αυτά :

 

Attorneys for the plaintiffs contended that Exxon bore responsibility for the accident because the company "put a drunk in charge of a tanker in Prince William Sound."

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Captain Joseph Hazelwood, who was widely reported to have been drinking heavily that night, was not at the controls when the ship struck the reef. However, as the senior officer, he was in command of the ship even though he was asleep in his bunk. In light of the other findings, investigative reporter Greg Palast stated in 2008, "Forget the drunken skipper fable. As to Captain Joe Hazelwood, he was below decks, sleeping off his bender. At the helm, the third mate never would have collided with Bligh Reef had he looked at his RAYCAS radar. But the radar was not turned on. In fact, the tanker's radar was left broken and disabled for more than a year before the disaster, and Exxon management knew it. It was [in Exxon's view] just too expensive to fix and operate." Exxon blamed Captain Hazelwood for the grounding of the tanker

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Other factors, according to an MIT course entitled "Software System Safety" by Professor Nancy G. Leveson,included:

 

Exxon Valdez was sailing outside the normal sea lane to avoid small icebergs thought to be in the area.

The 1989 tanker crew was half the size of the 1977 crew, worked 12–14 hour shifts, plus overtime. The crew was rushing to leave Valdez with a load of oil.

Coast Guard tanker inspections in Valdez were not done, and the number of staff was reduced.

Lack of available equipment and personnel hampered the spill cleanup

 

Το κερασάκι στην τούρτα ή αλλιώς το μνημείο θράσσους :

 

Exxon's official position was that punitive damages greater than $25 million were not justified because the spill resulted from an accident.

 

Συμπέρασμα 1:

[Προσωπική μου άποψη] Μπροστά σ'αυτά, (με την προϋπόθεση ότι ήταν όλα αληθή) η υπόθεση του Prestige (διαφορετικής φύσεως ως προς τους λόγους, τους υπευθύνους και τα αίτια, που έλαβε όμως τεράστιες διαστάσεις λόγω της πιο ευαίσθητης πλέον κοινής γνώμης) και ειδικά σε ότι αφορά τη χλεύη που επιφύλαξαν τα διεθνή μέσα στον καπετάνιο του ( ο οποίος βραβεύτηκε την επόμενη χρονιά, αν θυμάμαι καλά, για τους χειρισμούς του στο συγκεκριμένο περιστατικό) είναι απλώς νηπιαγωγείο.

 

Συμπέρασμα 2:

Ας είναι καλά οι δικηγόροι (και ας είμαι -τύποις- ένας από αυτούς). Σειρά λαθών και αβλεψιών μετατρέπονται σε "Exxon's official position was that punitive damages greater than $25 million were not justified because the spill resulted from an accident."

 

Συμπέρασμα 3:

Η ιστορία επαναλαμβάνεται με την σαφώς χειρότερη περίπτωση της έκρηξης στην εξέδρα Deepwater Horizon. Λάθη, αβλεψίες και παραλείψεις τριών κολοσσών (BP, Transocean, Halliburton) οδηγούν 11 άτομα στο θάνατο και 9000 κυβικά πετρελαίου ημερησίως επί 87 μέρες. Aλληλοκατηγορίες, δικαστικές μάχες (το saga είναι μόλις στην αρχή του) και αυτονόητα συμπεράσματα.

 

On 9 November 2010, a report by the Oil Spill Commission said that there had been "a rush to completion" on the well and criticised poor management decisions. "There was not a culture of safety on that rig," the co-chair said.

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BP rejected the charges saying "BP believes it was not grossly negligent and looks forward to presenting evidence on this issue at trial in January.

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Οn 25 July 2013 Halliburton plead guilty to destruction of critical evidence after the oil spill and said it would pay the maximum allowable fine of $200,000 and will be subject to three years of probation.

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According to the plaintiffs' lawyers the major cause of an explosion was the mishandling of a rig safety test, while inadequate training of the staff, poor maintenance of the equipment and substandard cement were also mentioned as things leading to the disaster.

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The Justice Department filed the first criminal charge against Kurt Mix, a BP engineer in April 2012, for obstructing justice by deleting messages showing that BP knew the flow rate was three times higher than initial claims by the company, and knew that "Top Kill" was unlikely to succeed, but claimed otherwise

 

Άραγε η ανθρωποτητα μαθαίνει από τα λάθη της ;  :ph34r:

Edited by kyr1
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