Citgo’s Corpus Christi Environmental Crimes: Too Big to Punish
After seven years of waiting, Corpus Christi pollution victims finally learned what restitution theyll be receiving from Citgo Petroleum Corp.: nothing. Last week, a federal district judge determined that residents of a neighborhood exposed to toxic chemicals from Citgos Corpus refinery werent due any compensation, including medical expenses or relocation costs.
In 2007, a jury convicted Citgo of violating the Clean Air Act, a first for a major oil company. The company had illegally stored oil in two uncovered tanks, exposing nearby residents to toxic chemicals including the carcinogen benzene. It took seven years for U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey to sentence the company, finally ruling in February that Citgo owed $2 milliona paltry sum next to the $1 billion prosecutors argued the company had earned from its illegal operation. Still, victims held out hope for some restitution.
On Wednesday, Rainey denied victims any restitution, including funding to pay for annual cancer screenings and other diseases that could be linked to chemical exposures. The Justice Department had requested that Citgo set up a fund to cover relocation costs, and another for victims future medical expenses, for a total of $30 million in restitution for victims and $25 million for the government.
Ironically, Rainey wrote that determining how much victims are really owed would unduly delay the sentencing process and outweighs the need to provide restitution to any victims.
more
http://www.texasobserver.org/citgos-corpus-christi-environmental-crimes-big-punish/