Chinese Fishermen Turn To US Courts For Compensation From ConocoPhillips
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Fed up by the bureaucracy in their own country, a group of 30 fishermen from north-eastern China have now filed a lawsuit against ConocoPhillips in a U.S.-based federal court, reported the Associated Press on Monday, in the hopes of claiming compensation for two oil spills last year.
Fed up by the bureaucracy in their own country, a group of 30 fishermen from north-eastern China have now filed a lawsuit against ConocoPhillips in a U.S.-based federal court, reported the Associated Press on Monday, in the hopes of claiming compensation for two oil spills last year.
According to the report, the two spills occurred concurrently in Penglai 19-3, China’s largest oil field, in June 2011; and caused more than 30,000 gallons of oil to be released into the Bohai Sea.
But while ConocoPhillips and its partner, the China National Offshore Oil Corp., managed to reach a $160 million agreement with China’s Ministry of Agriculture in January, many fishermen in the Bohai Bay have yet to receive any funds for the damages.
Tom Bilek, one of the fishermen’s lawyers, told AP that Chinese courts had been repeatedly blocking efforts by the fishermen to claim compensation. Furthermore, the complicated and bureaucratic system in China meant that the funds were not being distributed down in a proper fashion.
‘The Chinese court system is not providing any kind of relief for these people. ConocoPhillips assumed responsibility and we are just trying to make them responsible,” said Bilek, who is based in Houston.
[quote]“They (ConocoPhillips) are only paying the Chinese government and not the people that are injured,” he added.[/quote]Related: China To Charge Oil Shipments For Pollution Compensation Fund
Related: Oil Spills
Related: China Environment
Calls and emails to ConocoPhillips were not immediately returned Monday. In prior statements, CEO Jim Mulva has apologized for the oil spills’ impact, with the company even paying an additional $191 million to a Chinese agency to help pay for social projects in Bohai Bay.
[quote]”The BP and Conoco disasters are cautionary tales. Both demonstrate the risks of deep water drilling and the global arrogance of big oil,” said Stuart Smith, a New Orleans-based attorney who is also representing the fishermen.[/quote]
