The Exxon Valdez oil tanker crashed into
 a rock in Prince William Sound offshore
 from Alaska, spilling 257,000 barrels of
 oil into the water. 

Seven  paper industries contaminated the Fox River, Green Bay and Lake Michigan with hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic PCBs. 

 A one-time accident caused by an
 inattentive captain and crew members,
 and poor ship design (not double-hulled.)
 

PCBs were deliberately dumped in the river for nearly 50 years, with other untreated waste chemicals, despite 50 years of citizen protests against the pollution. 

 Wildlife became sickened and/or died. 
 Sport and subsistence fishing were 
 badly damaged or shut down completely.
 Commercial fishing was badly damaged 
 or shut down completely.  Thousands of
 people were contaminated and/or 
 sickened.   Local ethnic cultures were
 damaged.  The tourism industry and 
 local economies were severely harmed. 
 Popular scenic beaches were closed. 
 
 
 

Wildlife became sickened and/or died. Sport and subsistence fishing were badly damaged or shut down completely. Commercial fishing was badly damaged or shut down completely.  Thousands of people were contaminated and/or sickened.  Local ethnic cultures were damaged. The tourism industry and local economies were severely harmed.  Popular swimming beaches were closed.  The River and Bay can't be used for drinking water.  Commercial shipping and marina maintenance are much more expensive, because of contaminated sediments.   These damages have been allowed to persist for decades. 

 1,300 miles of shoreline around Prince
 William Sound were contaminated by
 oil.  200 miles were heavily or
 moderately oiled, and 1,100 miles were
 lightly or very lightly oiled. 

39 miles of the Fox River, plus 2,737 square miles of Green Bay, and roughly 36,226 square miles of Lake Michigan were contaminated with significant quantities of PCBs.   70% of the PCBs (and fish-eating warnings) in Lake Michigan come from the Fox River. 

 Saltwater bay connected to the diluting
 impacts of the Pacific Ocean 
 

Freshwater river and bay connected to Lake Michigan, essentially a closed system (the lake flushes through to the lower Great Lakes only once every 99 years.)   Millions of people use Lake Michigan for drinking water. 

 $2.1 billion 
 
 

Approximately $15 million for the 2 seasons of the 56/57 demonstration project by Fort James in Green Bay, plus a small share of the Deposit N demonstration costs. 

 Right away. 
 
 

About 50 years after PCB dumping started, and about 28 years after PCB-coated paper production was halted by Appleton Paper Company due to health liability concerns. 

 In the criminal plea agreement, Exxon
 was fined $150 million.  The court
 forgave $125 million of that fine given
 that Exxon helped clean the spill and paid
 certain private claims.  Of the remaining
 $25 million, $12 million went to the
 North American Wetlands Conservation
 Fund and $13 million went to a national
 Victims of Crime Fund.   As criminal
 restitution for the injuries caused to the
 fish, wildlife and lands of the spill region,
 Exxon agreed to pay $100 million, evenly
 divided between the state and federal
 governments.   In a civil settlement,
 Exxon agreed to pay $900 million over a
 10-year period.  The governments are
 allowed to claim an additional $100
 million for additional work to restore
 resources if it's determined by research
 that more work is needed later. 
 

This should be determined by the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) by several co-trustee agencies, including:  the  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, the Menominee Tribe, the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, and the Michigan Attorney General.  These governments will attempt to reach a settlement with the 7 paper industries, but the restitution and compensation costs may need to be settled in court. Gov.Thompson, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the Wisconsin Attorney General have not been supportive or cooperative, and may or may not become co-trustees in this case.  The public needs to show strong support, to demand that the State of Wisconsin  join as a supportive  co-trustee, and to encourage the paper companies to settle fairly as quickly as possible. 

 After a trial in 1994, Exxon was ordered
 by the court to pay $5.3 billion to
 approximately 40,000 people (mostly
 fishers and Native Americans) harmed 
 by the spill.  Exxon recently lost part of
 its legal appeal and a decision on the rest
 of the appeal is hoped for soon.   37
 State Attorneys General have sent a letter
 to Exxon chairman Lee Raymond
 demanding that Exxon pay the $5.3
 billion. 

 NOTE:  Many of the Exxon financial
 settlements are in addition to the oil 
 cleanup costs.   These are the
 compensation dollars the polluter is 
 required to pay.

So far, the 7 paper companies have not compensated any of the people harmed  economically, culturally or in terms of health by the PCBs (unless private actions resulted in secret settlements.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Clean Water Action Council
1270 Main Street, Suite 120, Green Bay, WI 54302 
Phone: 920-437-7304, Fax: 920-437-7326 
E-mail:  CleanWater@cwac.net