APNewsBreak: $1.7M penalty proposed in Exxon spill

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

APNewsBreak: 1.7M penalty proposed in Exxon spill

AP foreign, Monday March 25 2013

MATTHEW BROWN

Associated Press= BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal pipeline regulators have proposed $1.7 million in penalties against Exxon Mobil Corp. for a pipeline rupture that spewed crude oil into Montana's Yellowstone River.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said in a notice sent to the company Monday that Exxon employees failed to close a valve that could have significantly reduced the size of the 63,000-gallon spill. The agency also faulted the company for not addressing flood risks or taking measures to prevent a spill into the scenic waterway.

The July 2011 rupture of the 12-inch pipeline under the river near Laurel fouled 70 miles of the scenic Yellowstone's banks, killing fish and wildlife and prompting a massive, months-long cleanup.

Investigators previously said the size of the spill could have been reduced by about two-thirds if pipeline controllers had acted more quickly.

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10717616

[Newsjock]

1. Wow, Exxon will certainly feel the sting of such a stiff penalty

NOT. Perhaps the DOT can send them a strongly-worded letter, too.

Just another cost of doing business.

[wtmusic]

2. 1/10,000 of their 2012 profit! Their heads on a platter!

About time we played hardball with these guys.

[XemaSab]

3. And make them promise never to do it again

[Newest Reality]

4. That's a joke!

There goes a truckload of office supplies, at the most.

It is going to piss one guy off!

"Where's my stapler?"