Exxon killing birds again says Justice Dept.

June 19, 2:28 PMManchester Bird Watching ExaminerBrad Sylvester

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Photo Courtesy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

Once again, Exxon has been charged with endangering and in this case killing wild birds through negligence. The justice department is charging the oil giant with killing migratory birds in three Kansas counties. The complaint alleges that the company allowed the birds to come into contact with “hydrocarbons.” The press release did not specify that the hydrocarbon in question was oil or the manner in which the birds died except to say that the material was kept in tanks. The Environmental Crimes Unit of the Justice Department is pursuing the criminal complaint which is a misdemeanor according to current statutes.

Exxon, of course, is best known among environmentalists for the massive oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound caused by the reckless piloting of the Exxon Valdez. What isn’t well known, however, is that Exxon has been tying up the courts fighting the original damage award of $5 billion dollars since the accident occurred twenty years ago in 1989. After several appeals, Exxon finally whittled the award down to a meager $507.5 million dollars with a 2006 court decision. Now, a further ruling has decided that Exxon owes interest on the damages dating back to 1996 when the first damage claim was awarded by the courts. That amounts to another $480 million in interest. In its decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Exxon to pay its own legal fees of $70 million, in addition to the damages and interest.

Exxon did pay an estimated $3.5 billion in efforts to clean up the mess at the time of the accident as well, but, apparently, this sum wasn’t enough for the company to learn its lesson. As recently as February of 2008, US News and World Report found that Exxon was still using a single hulled oil tanker in Prince William Sound, exposing this already damaged ecosystem to a risk of another spill. Thankfully, single hulled oil tankers are scheduled to be phased out of operation in 2010 due to requirements placed on treaty nations by the International Maritime Organization, although some nations including the US have asked for an extension until 2015.

Meanwhile, as the Justice Department’s complaint shows, it seems that Exxon’s alleged misconduct has moved inland to kill bird species they may have missed with the Valdez.