Critics say Exxon spread money around the blackened coast of Alaska pretty much the same way its Exxon Valdez spewed crude in the nation's worst oil spill.
Exxon says it spent more than $1 billion on the "Big Spill" - about $100 for each of the nearly 11 million gallons that poured out of the grounded Exxon Valdez March 24.The Exxon cleanup ended last week - although spending continued on scientific studies and monitoring - but the state of Alaska said half the oil remains in the environment. One-third evaporated and Exxon picked up the rest.
Environmentalists mock the oil giant by playing a game that involves throwing play money at bowls of oil.
Where did Exxon's $1 billion - an amount about equal to its second-quarter profits - go?
It bought 530 miles of toilet paper for 15,000 workers; 900 beef cows, 280,000 chickens, 800 turkeys and 500 pigs and 24 tanker trucks of milk to feed the workers; 157,000 sets of rain gear so a rainsuit could be thrown away after it got oily; 65,000 pairs of rubber boots; 30,000 hardhats; 125,000 coveralls; 282,000 pairs of disposable rubber gloves; 340,000 pairs of cotton gloves; and 2,148 bottles of sunscreen.
The 1,288 vessels and dozens of airplanes and helicopters working on the spill required more fuel than the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez.
Exxon brought people and equipment from 33 states and six countries. The company needed buildings, hotels, mobile homes, work camps and cars. Last month, Exxon's Valdez phone bill was $109,000.