Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Oil spill · France · 1978–1992

Amoco Cadiz oil spill (France)

Nature's voice · report
About 223,000 tonnes of oil entered my waters. not independently verified
Listed in a research table row for this spill without a label; reported but not verified as the quantity spilled.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 4 insufficient · 1 disputed · 2 unclear See the gaps

The Amoco Cadiz oil spill occurred off Brittany on 16 March 1978. French claimants sued the owner's parent group in a US court; the award recorded was under half of the initial claims.

under 50%Award as a share of initial claims
Award of FF 1,257m, under half the initial claims (Cedre, secondary source).

Status As of 1992: the Seventh Circuit decided the claim by French claimants against the parent group (954 F.2d 1279); the award recorded was FF 1,257m, under half of the initial claims.

What?
An oil spill off Brittany on 16 March 1978; the owner tried to limit its liability and French claimants sued the parent group in a US court. The award was under half of the initial claims.
Where?
Brittany, France; litigation in the Northern District of Illinois, USA.
When?
16 March 1978; Seventh Circuit decision in 1992.
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Claimants — Recorded as bearing more than half of claims; the award was under half of the initial claims.
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The cause of the casualty is not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
The owner (Amoco Transport, Liberia) tried to limit its liability through a CLC fund in Brest; France's claimants sued the parent group in Chicago.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Amoco Cadiz oil spill occurred on 16 March 1978 in Brittany, France. The ship's owner was Amoco Transport, registered in Liberia. A comparison table in the sources reviewed lists "about 223 thousand tonnes" against this spill without saying what the figure measures.

The owner tried to limit its liability. A fund of about US$16.8 million under the Civil Liability Convention (CLC) was set up in Brest (Cedre, secondary source).

French claimants sued the owner's parent group in the United States, in the Northern District of Illinois. The Seventh Circuit's decision is reported at 954 F.2d 1279 (1992).

An award of FF 1,257 million is recorded, under half of the initial claims (Cedre). The record's comparison table gives 14 years for the case and lists claimants as bearing more than half of claims.

The research record groups Amoco Cadiz with Erika, Sea Empress and Tasman Spirit under the heading 'no insurer refusal; limits applied'.

  1. 197816 March: oil spill in Brittany
  2. 1992Seventh Circuit decision, 954 F.2d 1279

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Could the owner limit its liability, and could the parent group be held liable?
Company or project
Amoco Transport (owner)

Tried to limit its liability; a CLC limitation fund of about US$16.8 million was set up in Brest.

Government and regulators
France / French claimants

Sued the parent group in the US, Northern District of Illinois.

Courts
Seventh Circuit

Decided the case on appeal, reported at 954 F.2d 1279 (1992); the record gives the citation only.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

    Recorded

    • Award of FF 1,257 million, under half the initial claims (Cedre).
    • A CLC limitation fund of about US$16.8 million was set up in Brest (secondary source).
    • French claimants sued the parent group in the US, Northern District of Illinois; Seventh Circuit decision at 954 F.2d 1279 (1992).

    Who gained

    Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

    Reached nature or the ground

    Not published
    No figure published.

    Gained elsewhere

    Not totalled
    Currency: FRF · Window: 1978–1992. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

    Responses on record

    • amoco-transport (n.d.): The owner tried to limit its liability; a CLC limitation fund of about US$16.8 million was set up in Brest.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. 1992Outcome not on record
      French claimants v the Amoco Transport parent group
      US District Court, Northern District of Illinois; US Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit · Civil · French claimants → Parent group of Amoco Transport (name not given in the record)

      The French claimants sued the parent group in the Northern District of Illinois. The Seventh Circuit's decision is reported at 954 F.2d 1279 (1992). The research record gives an award of FF 1,257 million, under half of the initial claims, without naming the forum that made it.

    Insurers

    1. No policy found
      Not named in the record → Amoco Transport (owner)

      The record's heading for this case reads 'no insurer refusal; limits applied'. A CLC limitation fund of about US$16.8 million was set up in Brest.

    What nature saw

    Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

    Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

    Award against initial claims
    under 50%
    FF 1,257m awarded; claimants bore more than half of claims (research table)
    Limitation fund
    about US$16.8m
    CLC fund set up in Brest (secondary source)

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
    Court ruling exists

    Court

    • Unclear French claimants v the Amoco Transport parent group: outcome not on record.

    Insurers

    • Unclear Not named in the record: no decision on record.

    Figures

    • Insufficient Oil spilled (tonnes): Listed in a research table row for this spill without a label; reported but not verified as the quantity spilled.

    Accounts

    • Disputed Could the owner limit its liability, and could the parent group be held liable?

    Record

    • Insufficient Shore recovery: reported but not independently verified that open rocky shores were cleaned within weeks while marshes took decades (research record, memory-sourced).
    • Insufficient Dispersant use: reported but not independently verified that France did not use dispersant chemicals in sensitive areas and in waters shallower than 50 metres after the Torrey Canyon experience (research record, memory-sourced).
    • Insufficient The figure 'about 223 thousand tonnes' for this spill is listed in a research table without a label; reported but not verified as the quantity spilled.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    The record lists claimants as bearing more than half of claims; the award was under half of the initial claims, and the owner set up a CLC limitation fund of about US$16.8m.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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