On Thursday, January 25, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined City Council Members Eric Gioia and David Yassky, State Senator Martin Dilan, Assembly Member Vito Lopez, and Basil Seggos of the environmental organization Riverkeeper to announce the filing of additional claims in their joint lawsuit against ExxonMobil for violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging contaminating pollutants, many of which are known carcinogens, into Newtown Creek. Since December 2005, the company has been evading Clean Water Act permits and dumping partially treated water that includes toxic chemicals such as benzene and vinyl chloride from its oil-recovery operations into the creek through two “outfalls.”

The continuous flow of polluted water by ExxonMobil into Newtown Creek was plainly visible from the site of the event.

“Instead of using their $38 billion in annual profits to clean up one of the biggest oil disasters in history, ExxonMobil is adding to the problem by dumping carcinogens into Newtown Creek,” said Borough President Markowitz. “This company’s continued disregard for the health of Brooklynites and the environment of all New Yorkers is a downright disgrace, and we’re tired of their slick evasive tactics. To the oil barons down in Texas, we say, ‘Don’t mess with Brooklyn!’"

Borough President Markowitz, Council Members Gioia and Yassky, and Riverkeeper jointly filed a Clean Water Act suit against ExxonMobil in 2004 to clean up the massive oil spill. Today they joined new co-plaintiffs Senator Dilan and Assembly Member Lopez to call on the company to upgrade its treatment systems and to adhere to Clean Water Act standards that it has been dodging, which would make their actions accountable to the public.

The Greenpoint Oil Spill has polluted Newtown Creek, an East River tributary that runs between northwest Brooklyn and southwest Queens, for the last 50 years. The estimated 17 million gallons of oil that have been discharged over that time make it one of the largest oil disasters in American history — far larger than the Alaskan Exxon Valdez spill. In addition, oil and other chemicals have seeped into the soil beneath 55 acres of Greenpoint, degrading residents’ homes and businesses and threatening their health.

ExxonMobil’s so-called “recovery systems” for cleaning up the oil spill are actually exacerbating the problem, and the company continues to avoid full responsibility for the clean-up. In October 2006, ExxonMobil, the world’s largest oil company, announced annual net profits of $38 billion, topping the previous year’s $36 billion.

For more information, visit www.riverkeeper.org