Clean Water Act · 1991 Public record Prince William Sound spill
Exxon (Exxon Valdez) · Alaska
~$1 billion
settlement · log scale, $16.5M to $14.7B
The settlement that reset the price of an oil spill.
After the 1989 tanker grounding fouled 1,300 miles of Alaskan coastline, the 1991 settlement combined a $900 million civil recovery paid over ten years with $100 million in criminal restitution.
Source: U.S. DOJ / EPA / State of Alaska settlement, 1991
Toxic Substances (TSCA) · 2005 Public record Washington Works (PFOA / C8)
E.I. DuPont de Nemours · West Virginia
$16.5 million
settlement · log scale, $16.5M to $14.7B
The largest civil administrative penalty EPA had ever obtained, at the time.
DuPont settled claims that it withheld health and environmental information about PFOA ("C8") used to make Teflon, paying a $10.25 million penalty plus $6.25 million in supplemental environmental projects.
Source: EPA administrative settlement, 2005