Exxon Fined for Causing Bird Deaths

Exxon Mobil has agreed to pay $600,000 in penalties after approximately 85 migratory birds died of exposure to hydrocarbons at some of its natural gas facilities across the Midwest. The fine amounts to about $7,000 per dead bird. The oil major pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of waterfowl, hawks, owls and other protected species, which perished around natural gas well pits or water storage areas in Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas over the last five years. The deal was struck with the Department of Justice in a federal court in Denver. Exxon had been charged with violating a 1918 federal law designed to protect migratory birds...NYTimes