French company Total on trial over 1999 oil spill
A trial begins in Paris today to decide whether oil company Total SA and 14 other defendants were criminally responsible for France’s worst-ever oil spill eight years ago.
The Maltese-registered Erika tanker, hauling fuel oil owned by a unit of Total, split in two and capsized in rough seas on December 12, 1999 – spilling nearly 20,000 tonnes of oil into the Atlantic and onto France’s western coast.
Total faces charges of pollution and “complicity in endangering people and property”.
Oil covered 240 miles of coastline, killing thousands of birds and blackening beaches.
The spill was one of several disasters that led EU transport ministers to tighten controls on maritime safety. France also toughened its own laws.
In a document ordering Total to stand trial, investigating judge Dominique de Talance said the company disregarded its own safety rules by chartering a 25-year-old ship.
The magistrate also wrote that Total had been informed by crew a day before the spill that “leaks due to cracks in the deck raised fears of pollution”.
Total, which denies the charges, says the company has already spent €200m to clean up France’s beaches, pump oil out of the ship and treat the waste.
France is seeking €153m in damages and interest to pay for its role in the cleanup, and three regions hit by the spill are demanding another €400m.
The trial’s head judge, Jean-Baptiste Parlos, is expected to focus the hearings on the events leading up to the spill. The proceedings are expected to end in June.
Others to be brought before the court in the case include Italian company Registro Italiano Navale, which had inspected the Erika before she sank; vessel captain Karun Mathur; Antonio Pollara, an official with the Italian company Panship who was in charge of technical assistance; and the tanker’s owner Giuseppe Savarese.
Two Total units, Total Transport Corp. and Total Gas and Power Services Ltd., formerly known as Total Petroleum Services, will also be tried.
