Oil firm guilty in 1999 fuel spill
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A court convicted Total SA in France’s worst oil spill and ordered the petroleum giant and three other defendants to pay $285 million in compensation. It was the first time a French court awarded damages for environmental harm.
The ruling found Total guilty of maritime pollution for transporting fuel in a rusty tanker that broke apart in a 1999 storm and stained 250 miles of coast with oil. Compensation was ordered paid to 101 civil parties, mainly associations involved in the cleanup and ecology groups.
The decision raised hopes among environmentalists that unseaworthy ships would be forced from international waters.
Also convicted were Italian company Registro Italiano Navale, which inspected the vessel; the ship’s Italian owner, Giuseppe Savarese; and Antonio Pollara, head of the Italian company Panship, which was operating the vessel.
Total suggested it was studying whether to appeal.
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