Kia Franklin

Update on Exxon Oil Clean Up

In my previous post on the newest lawsuit surrounding the ExxonMobil oil spill in Greenpoint, I cited to a news story that contained contested information about the incidence of cancer in the Greenpoint area resulting from the spill.

This issue has generated a lot of controversy over the possible political backstory influencing the way Greenpoint's neighborhood is being portrayed and Williamsburg's problems with toxicity are downplayed. Thanks to a commenter for alerting us that the cancer incidences referred to in the CBS report actually took place in Williamsburg and not Greenpoint, and to John from Neighborhood Roots for sharing his insights and references as well. John noted that "the Roebling oil spill (aka Williamsburg oil spill) never even makes it in the press," and believes that the focus on Greenpoint and away from problem areas in Williamsburg may be politically tied to Greenpoint's rezoning efforts in 2005, which succeeded despite significant opposition.

Neighborhood-by-neighborhood cancer statistics are available at the New York Department of Health's cancer registry (or visit http://www.health.state.ny.us/statistics/cancer/registry/vol1n.htm), which shows that Greenpoint has lower cancer rates than Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights and many other Brooklyn neighborhoods. You can peruse through various articles and studies and their comments sections for more discussion on this aspect of the oil spill controversy (here, here, here, or here, for starts).

The truth that everyone can agree upon is that the oil companies need to be pressured into a more aggressive clean up and remediation process. The newest surge of press attention to the companies' (including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Keyspan, BP, and Phelps Dodge) responsibility for the spill is yet another mechanism for holding them accountable.

By the way, an ExxonMobil-sympathetic article in the NYT portrays the company as having been long committed to the clean up, but environmental groups, residents, and the attorney general insist that any commitment on their part has been slow, grudging, and ineffective. The article, which for the most part reads like a sad attempt at image-rescue, does include an apt and succinct summary of the problem by Alex Matthiessen, president of Riverkeeper: “For far too long, Exxon Mobil has done the bare minimum to address the very serious environmental impact."

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Posted at 10:41 AM, Jul 23, 2007 in
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