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brussels, 19
november 2002
'prestige' oil tanker sinking today:
make oil companies liable for damage, says
friends of the earth
-- Today's oil spill disaster in Spanish
waters shows the “crying need for tough new
liability laws for environmental damage”
Friends of the Earth said today.
The call came as it emerged that the
tanker Prestige [1] – which threatens an
environmental catastrophe off the Spanish
coast following its sinking today - is
registered in Bahamas, was managed in Greece,
and carried oil for a Swiss company (with
mostly British directors) whose ultimate
owners are Russian. The oil industry has
fiercely opposed liability for the impacts on
biodiversity for a number of years [2].
Later this month [3] the European
Parliament is due to discuss a draft EU
Liability Directive. However the proposal has
been criticised for being “so weak it is
practically useless” [4]
Although there have been numerous serious
oil spills around the coast of Europe over
the last fifteen years [5] the question of
who pays for the damage caused to the
environment and peoples’ livelihoods has not
been resolved. Communities are often left
footing the bill many years after an incident
has happened. Friends of the Earth says that
oil companies must be made fully liable for
their pollution.
“Once again a European coast is under
threat from a massive oil slick. Although
these incidents happen with depressing
regularity nothing has been done to make oil
companies still avoid paying for the damage
caused to the environment and peoples
livelihoods. Politicians must resist the
disgraceful lobbying from the oil industry
and their friends and draw up tough rules
that ensure people and the environment are
put ahead of big business,” Friends of the
Earth’s pollution campaigner Matt Phillips
said today.
For more information contact in the
UK:
Matt Phillips +44-20-7566 1660 / +44-7817
314 706 (m)
Roger Higman +44-20-7566 1661/ +44-7780 661
807 (m)
In the U.S.A.:
Mark Helm, 1-202-783-7400 x102,
1-202-270-3650 (cell/mobile)
in Spain:
FoE Vigo (
vigo@tierra.org
) and FoE Galicia (
galicia@tierra.org
)
see also the information about the foei
maritime campaign
www.foei.org/maritime/index.html:
Notes
[1] The Prestige sank today off Spain’s
north-western coast with a 70,000-ton cargo
of oil.
[2] In the UK, foe instance, the
government consulted on the directive earlier
this year. The CBI attacked the directive,
raising objections to liability for damage to
biodiversity – even on internationally
important wildlife sites. At present
taxpayers pay for cleaning- up oil spills
because of the Byzantine liability of the
international shipping industry and the
denial of liability by companies. In Europe
the CBI is part of UNICE – the European
employers organisation (‘The voice of
business in Europe’). It has been leading an
attack on the directive in order to ensure it
is weak.
[3] According to Reuters 14 November
2002
[4] See Friends of the Earth Press Release
– The polluter does not pay – (3 October
2002)
[5] These include The Brear (5 Jan 1993)
off the Shetland Islands releasing 26 million
gallons of oil, The Sea Empress (15 Feb 1996)
off Wales spilling 18 million gallons of oil,
and the Erika (12 Dec 1999) off Brittany on
the French Atlantic coast spilling three
million gallons of oil.
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