Exxon Mobil to pay $1M to settle oil spill in Montana river

HELENA, Mont. – A judge has approved an agreement for Exxon Mobil Corp. to pay $1.05 million to settle federal pollution violations over a 2011 pipeline break that sent oil into Montana’s Yellowstone River.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters accepted the deal Monday.

It resolves the last outstanding federal enforcement case against Exxon after 63,000 gallons (238,474 litres) of crude oil spilled into the river downstream from Yellowstone National Park.

Flooding in 2011 scoured the river bottom and exposed the buried pipeline, causing it to break along a stretch of river popular with anglers and boaters.

Exxon previously paid $12 million over natural resource damage and $2.6 million for pipeline safety and state pollution violations.

The Irving, Texas-based company also spent an estimated $135 million on a monthslong cleanup and repairs.