‘Drop In The Bucket’: ExxonMobil To Pay $12million In Oil Spill Settlement

‘ExxonMobil Corp will pay $12 million to Montana for a 2011 oil spill that affected 85 miles of Yellowstone River as well as farmland. While state lawmakers are praising the settlement, some residents think it’s a far cry from a real punishment.
In July 2011, an Exxon pipeline by Billings, Montana burst and leaked 1,500 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River just 150 miles downstream from Yellowstone National Park. Five years later, the company has settled with the state of Montana and the US government.
“This proposed settlement marks yet another step in the process to return the Yellowstone River and its surrounding ecosystem to the majestic state it was prior to the oil spill,” Governor Steve Bullock announced when the proposed consent decree was officially filed on Wednesday.’
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