Ayotte
CONCORD, N.H. - ExxonMobil and New Hampshire Attorney Kelly Ayotte recently decided the company will repay more than $2 million it received from the state.
Ayotte said the money was to help clean up gasoline spills at some Exxon stations, and that the state is entitled to a refund because Exxon received payments from private insurers to help with the spills.
The money distributed by the state came from the Oil Fund Disbursement Board.
"State law requires repayment to the fund if private insurance money pays for environmental cleanup costs," Ayotte said. "Due to declining fund revenues and increased cleanup costs, it is particularly important that the fund reimburse those who have no environmental insurance and who are waiting for the fund to pay for cleanup.
"This settlement money will be used to pay for those cleanups, which are essential to protecting public health and our precious environment."
Exxon disputed the claim that it was required to repay the $2,041,968 but settled anyway. In February, the company was sued by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who claims it is responsible for and taking too long to clean up a spill in the Greenport Area that occurred decades ago.
Exxon also recently went before the Alabama Supreme Court to argue that a $3.6 billion judgment awarded against it should be wiped away. The state claimed the company defrauded it.