P.M. BRIEFING : Exxon Negotiating for a Plea Bargain on Oil Spill Charges
Exxon Corp. and the Justice Department are conducting plea negotiations over possible criminal charges stemming from last year’s massive Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill, government sources said today.
Negotiations between government and Exxon lawyers are focusing on a possible plea bargain to settle environmental criminal charges that could be brought, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Justice Department spokeswoman Deborah Burstion-Wade confirmed discussions between department lawyers and Exxon but she declined to say if they involve negotiations over possible criminal charges.
Sources said prosecutors from the environmental crimes section of the department’s Land and Natural Resources Division are participating in the negotiations.
The nation’s worst oil spill occurred last March when the 987-foot tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef along Alaska’s southern coast, spilling more than 10 million gallons of North Slope crude.
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