Cleanup funding benefits energy giants

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From the Los Angeles Times
Cleanup funding benefits energy giants
The program was established to help mom-and-pop companies repair the environment. But large firms get the money.
By Evan Halper
May 10, 2009

(...)

Where petroleum was leaking into soil, it was fouling water supplies. Some small businesses in rural areas had been bankrupted by the cleanup costs. Some were abandoning their properties.

(...)

Big oil companies were to fund most of the cleanup kitty through a fee levied by the state. They pass the fee on to drivers at the pump.

The large companies successfully lobbied for access to the fund at its inception and secured a provision guaranteeing them at least 14% of the money, according to company officials and legislative staff. Since that time, state records show, the companies have received nearly 20% of the approximately $2.4 billion in payouts.

(...)

And even though it is drivers who actually foot the bill, the corporations say that because they are ultimately responsible for the fees, they should not be barred from making claims on a substantial share of the fund.

"The oil industry has paid millions into this fund, it has always supported the fund, it has supported increases in the fees when appropriate," said Tupper Hull, a spokesman for the Western States Petroleum Assn., which helped craft the most recent legislation to extend the program. "The industry has accepted the reality that they are at the very end of a list of priorities for being reimbursed."

(more at the link)

--Los Angeles Times

From the Los Angeles Times
Where the money goes
May 10, 2009

Where the money goes

Payments made from the oil cleanup fund since its inception:

To individuals: 1,438 payments; Total: $27 million

To small employers (fewer than 100 workers): 33,470 payments; Total: $1 billion

To medium employers(100 to 500 workers): 22,238 payments; Total: $949 million

To large employers (more than 500 workers): 5,694 payments; Total: $488 million

Source: California Water Resources Control Board

--Los Angeles Times

From the Los Angeles Times
Top 10 pending claims
May 10, 2009

Top 10 pending claims

The largest claims pending for the California Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund by big corporations are:.

Union Oil Co....$262.9 million

BP...$190.9 million

Equilon Enterprises (Shell and Texaco Partnership): $175.1 million

Chevron Corp....$156.4 million

Exxon Mobil Corp....$48.5 million

7-Eleven...$36.6 million

ConocoPhillips...$31.3 million

Ultramar...$20.8 million

Circle K...$13 million

Yosemite Concessions...$8.1 million

--Los Angeles Times

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