N.Y. attorney general to sue Exxon for oil spills

February 9th, 2007

New York - ExxonMobil Corp. is the target of a lawsuit to be filed by the New York attorney general's office that claims the company did not clean up 17 million gallons of spilled oil in Brooklyn over the past century, the New York attorney general's office announced Thursday.

ExxonMobil Corp. is the target of a lawsuit to be filed by the New York attorney general's office that claims the company did not clean up 17 million gallons of spilled oil in Brooklyn over the past century, the New York attorney general's office announced Thursday.

The lawsuit is intended to force the cleanup of 17 million gallons of oil that spilt into Newtown Creek and formed an underground contamination over 55 acres in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, according to the state. The seepage was discovered in 1978.

"This is one of the worst environmental disasters in the nation, larger than the Exxon Valdez and slower in the cleanup," New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo said in a written statement, adding "ExxonMobil must and will be held accountable."

ExxonMobil spokesman Barry Wood said, "ExxonMobil is committed to remediation of the site and we have been aggressive in our efforts and have made significant progress," he said.