New Mexico, Chevron settle case over cleanup costs for contamination from gas station tanks

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

New Mexico, Chevron settle case over cleanup costs for contamination from gas station tanks
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, September 11, 3:14 PM

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico officials say Chevron Corp. will pay $5.2 million to settle the state’s claims that the energy company improperly applied for money from an environmental cleanup fund.

The state alleges Chevron falsely claimed it didn’t have and didn’t collect on insurance to pay for cleaning up petroleum contamination from the company’s leaking underground storage tanks at gas stations around the state. The state says the company did get payments from insurers through secret settlements.

The state says it paid $4 million to Chevron after the company filed dozens of claims to tap into the cleanup fund. Some of the claims date back to the early 1990s.

The settlement was announced Wednesday by Attorney General Gary King and the state Environment Department.

A message seeking comment with Chevron officials wasn’t immediately returned.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/new-mexico-chevron-settle-case-over-cleanup-costs-for-contamination-from-gas-station-tanks/2013/09/11/c862b862-1b1e-11e3-80ac-96205cacb45a_story.html

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(Short story, no more at link.)

[Divernan]

1. What about 3 strikes, you're out for corporate "persons"?

Three convictions for any combination of:

Misrepresentation in financial statements of corporations
Manipulation in the stock market
Commercial bribery
Bribery of public officials directly or indirectly
Misrepresentation in advertisement and salesmanship
Embezzlement and misappropriation of funds
Misapplication of funds in receiverships and bankruptcies
Fraud
Environmental damage or injury caused either deliberately or through negligence
(just to name a few categories of corporate malfeasance).

would (IN ADDITION TO fines and damages) result in banning them from lobbying or in any manner providing cash or any item of present or future value to any political individual, committee, organization or party; or from hiring, retaining, placing on their board of directors or in any manner compensating any one who has held political office or worked at the upper levels of a government agency having oversight of said corporation, and to slam shut the revolving door between corporations & government bureaucracies.

This would have to be fine-tuned of course, but what an impact to turn off the spigot of political bribery, greed & corruption rampant in our system.