Solons Attack Exxon Mobil Over 1950 Spill

Local politicians offered stinging criticism of oil giant Exxon Mobil yesterday as they announced plans to file an additional lawsuit against the company charging it failed to properly clean oil spilled in Brooklyn groundwater.

The suit, which the officials said is to be filed in federal court in 60 days, will likely be tacked onto a larger lawsuit against the company over the spill in Brooklyn. An estimated 17 million gallons of oil was leaked by Standard Oil into Greenpoint groundwater in 1950, about 9 million gallons of which Exxon Mobil has removed. However, in removing the groundwater since 2005, the company has been out of compliance with federal standards, groundwater environmental groups and lawmakers claim.

"Has Exxon Mobil no decency at all? They refuse to face the fact that they have been polluting Brooklyn, Greenpoint, Queens, and the waterways around New York City," City Council Member David Yassky said at a press conference near the Newtown River. The president of Brooklyn, Marty Markowitz, Council Member Eric Gioia, and state Senator Martin Dilan all took turns pledging their support for the new action against the oil company.

Exxon Mobil denied any wrongdoing, saying it frequently tests the water. "We take our environmental responsibility very seriously," an Exxon Mobil spokesman, Prem Nair, wrote in an e-mail message.