euro|topics - Total is charged guilty of pollution

Main focus of Thursday, January 17, 2008

Total is charged guilty of pollution

For the first time ever, French justice has recognised the principal of 'ecological prejudice' by condemning, on January 16th, the petrol group Total for 'maritime pollution'. In December 1999, the shipwreck of the Erika oil tanker caused an enormous oil slick with over 20,000 tons of heavy fuel oil spread over 400 km of the French coast.

24 heures - Switzerland

"After years of procedures untangling who was responsible for what, from Total who chartered it, to the ship owner, via the tabulation company, and the oil tanker's administrator, the verdict has finally been delivered", Philippe Sumartheray is glad to say. "Ecological prejudice is now recognised. It has been evaluated at 192 million euros. This is no doubt too little, but the principal of a polluter paying up has been ratified. Concretely, the rubbish dumping boats are going to have to leave the coasts, the French ones, for the time being. Still more important, it is the whole navigation chain and all maritime staff that will now have to demonstrate solidarity in assuming responsibility for the risks taken with the condition of a vessel. 'Never again !' was hitherto a desperate cry. Henceforth, with the Erika verdict, this desire will be granted by the law." (17/01/2008)

Libération - France

Fabrice Rousselot wants this "judgement to finally force maritime transport operators to be transparent, accountable and make a visible effort to prevent this type of catastrophe. In eight years, the Erika, an oil tanker sailing under the Maltese flag, owned by Liberians, managed by Italians and chartered by a company from Panama with an Indian captain has become, very much despite itself, the key symbol of a sector that uses opacity as one of its rules of conduct. Measures have already been taken for single bottom oil tankers, but surveillance needs to be reinforced, and more power and resources the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) created in 2003. Legislation also needs to evolve, notably on the tricky question of flags of convenience. The polluters know what they risk If they don't do anything." (17/01/2008)

La Libre Belgique - Belgium

"Eight years on and after a judicial marathon of unprecedented complexity, the Paris correctional court has delivered a verdict that will go down in history", writes Xavier Ducarme. "Until now, victims of an oil slick had to prove great loss in order to obtain compensation from the polluters. The annihilated harvest of an oyster farmer, the poisoning of a salt marsh, the blocked access to the sea for a flotilla of trawlers, the massive exodus of holiday makers... damage that experts have managed to evaluate without too much difficulty. What, however, is the price in euros of the death of a tern, of a gull or of a mackerel, the sterilising of a seabed, the destruction of a landscape ? Up until now, nature was unable to claim its rights in court. French justice appears to have repaired what seemed an injustice, a denial." (17/01/2008)

die tageszeitung - Germany

"The oil concern is sure to appeal," says Rainer Borcherding about the court decision, "but it still sets an important signal. Even a company that out-sources its oil transport remains responsible for the security of this transport. In connection with EU decisions about shipping security, known as the 'Erika package,' there should be gradual improvements in shipping security over the coming years in Europe. ...The decision could also have a beneficial effect on the insurance sector, because liability for environmental damage will no longer be shifted to the affected coastal lands." (17/01/2008)

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