New York State's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a federal suit against ExxonMobil Corp. and ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Co. to compel the company to clean up remains of one of the largest oil spills in history.

At least 17 million gallons of oil has leaked into in the ground below Greenpoint, Brooklyn, contaminating groundwater and surrounding soil. The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, in comparison, spilled 11 million gallons. An estimated 7 to 8 million gallons of oil remain beneath Greenpoint, some of which sit under residential areas. The contamination came from oil refineries along Newton Creek, the waterway separating Brooklyn and Queens.

The July 17 suit seeks the cessation of any remaining leaks into Newton Creek, scientific testing to determine the extent of the environmental damage, increased recovery of the underground oil, cleanup of groundwater and soil, restoration of Newton Creek, damages for injuries to natural resources and “substantial financial penalties,” according to a statement from the office of the attorney general.

The state is suing under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; the Clean Water Act; the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (also known as Superfund); the Oil Pollution Act; and New York's state Navigation Law and Environmental Conservation Law. The suit also claims public nuisance and common law indemnification and restitution.

The possibility of a leak was first noted in 1950, when an underground explosion in Greenpoint led investigators to discover gasoline had been seeping into the sewer system. The leak was ignored. It is believed this explosion caused or increased the refinery leakage. In September 1978, the Coast Guard discovered oil seeping into Newton Creek.

According to the attorney general's office, ExxonMobil has to date recovered barely half of the polluting oil and has not addressed the contaminated soil and creek. ExxonMobil–the successor to the responsible companies, such as Standard Oil–did not begin a concerted clean-up effort until the 1990s. In February, Cuomo filed notice of intent to sue, charging ExxonMobil's cleanup methods actually increased the pollutants released into Newton Creek.

“ExxonMobil–the largest, most profitable oil corporation in the world–has continually refused to accept responsibility for what is one of the worst environmental disasters in the nation's history,” Cuomo said in a statement. “With today's action, we will hold ExxonMobil accountable for the damage it created. This suit sends the message that even the largest corporations in the world cannot escape the consequences of their misdeeds.”