At the end of the day no amount of money can really make up for the negative impact oil spills and other industrial outputs have on the environment, but there have been attempts by companies to try and make up for those mistakes by dishing out loads of money.
Below are the 10 biggest pollution payouts by corporations (not adjusted for inflation).
1. British Petroleum (BP) – $21.7 billion; While it looks like this problem is far from being solved, BP has already claimed the top spot by spending $1.6 billion on the Deepwater Horizon oil. With an added $20 billion fund to compensate Gulf-area victims of the spill and a $100 million fund for laid off oil workers.
2. Exxon (XOM) – $3.5 billion; In 1989, 10.8 million gallons of crude oil spilt into Alaska’s Prince William sound and tainted 11,000 square miles of ocean and 1,300 miles of shoreline.
3. Union Carbide – $470 million; In 1984, methyl isocyanante gas flooded Bhopal, India and killed an estimated 15,000 people. After the spill, Union Carbide CEO, Warren Anderson, fled India and was not required to come back to face charges. This ultimately forced victims to take a claim of $470 million compared to the $3 billion they were seeking.
4. Honeywell (HON) – $451 million; With 165,000 pounds of mercury and other toxins in New York’s Onondaga Lake, the most polluted lake in America, Honeywell agreed to pay for cleanup and plans to move millions of cubic tons of soil from the lake bed to a nearby storage facility.
5. Pacific Gas and Electric – $335 million; In 2006, it was found that PG&E’s compressor plan had leaked metal into the groundwater around Kettleman Hills, CA.
6. Pacific Gas and Electric Redux – $333 million; In 1996, waste from a compressor station seeped into the surrounding groundwater in Hinkley, CA. This poisoned a 2-mile by 1-mile area and caused a host of chromium-related health issues.
7. ASARCO – $1.79 billion; In 2009, ASARCO agreed to pay funds to clean up 80 sites across 19 states due to hazardous debris blanketing surrounding towns.
8. General Electric (GE) – $250 million; For 45 years, a plant in Pittsfield, MA released organic compounds linked to brain damage, liver disease, and cancer – into the Housatonic river. In 1999, GE agreed to pay to clean up the mess.
9. Trafigura – $244 million; In 2006, Trafigura dumped more than 500 tons of toxic waste near Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. Chemicals from the waste released gases that killed 17 and injured more than 100,000. A settlement was later agreed upon to pay for damages and cleanup.
10. ARCO – $187 million; Since the 1800′s, mining companies in Butte, MT have produced thousands of tons of sulfur, arsenic, lead, and other pollutants, which also found their way into the Clark Fork River. In 2008, ARCO agreed to pay to clean up the 120 miles of river.
source – dailyfinance