Erika was an oil tanker chartered by the company Total that sank off the coast of Brittany on the 12th December, 1999. It was transporting 31 000 tons of heavy fuel oil. On the 23rd December, the first oil slicks reached the Bigouden coast and over the course of a few days they had reached the entire coast, from Finistère to Charente-Maritime. In order to fight against the pollution, the authorities decided to pump the oil out. The pumping began in December 1999 but only came to an end during the summer of 2000. As early on as the end of December 1999, volunteers undertook the task of cleaning the beaches and rescuing the birds that could still be saved-it is estimated that more than 150 000 birds died. More anti-establishment collectives also took action in numerous towns (Quimper, Lorient, Vannes, Nantes, etc.), and in turn regrouped environmental associations as well as political parties and federations. These collectives quickly formed into an oil spill Coordination, which organised many actions and protests. The protest on February 5th 2000 in Nantes brought together between 20 and 40 000 people.
After seven years of investigation, “Erika’s” trial took place from the 12th February to the 13th June 2007. On January 16th 2008, the criminal court of Paris found the company Total, the ship owner Giuseppe Savarese, the manager Antonio Pollara and the certifying body of the ship, Rina, guilty of maritime pollution and ordered them to conjointly pay 192 million euros in compensation to the plaintiff (the State, local collectives, environmental protection agencies). For the first time ever, the sentence recognised ecological damage. This conviction was confirmed by Paris’ Court of Appeal on March 20th 2010 and was then validated by the Supreme Court on September 25th, 2012.
