Exxon Mobile, which has spilled at least 17 million gallons of oil from its refinery in and around Newtown Creek over the years, agreed to pay $25 million to settle a long-standing environmental suit; the settlement follows the creek's recent addition to the list of Superfund sites, a process that could last up to ten years and cost as much as $500 million. $19.5 million of the settlement will pay for projects to benefit the Greenpoint community, selected through community input.
Two questions:
- If the damage is $500 million, why do we only get $25 million?
- If the damage is $500 million, why is only $5.5 million going to the spill itself?
