By an OGJ Online Correspondent
PARIS, Nov. 8 -- Parisian Judge Dominique de Talancé on Wednesday indicted TotalFinaElf SA in connection with the Erika heavy fuel oil spill in December 1999.
Talancé charged the Franco-Belgian oil company with "complicity in endangering the life of other people and for maritime pollution."
TotalFinaElf must pay 50 million francs as surety and must not charter tankers more than 15 years old to transport heavy fuel oil.
All the players involved in the wreck have been indicted, including Erika's captain, a certification company, the ship owners, and members of France's maritime administration.
The indictment follows an official report which blames the group for poor vetting of the tanker and for its management of the crisis between the time of the distress signal and the moment when the ship broke in two and sank (OGJ Online, Oct. 5, 2001).
TotalFinaElf has denied all charges. "The group will continue to cooperate without reserve with Justice, as it has never ceased to do, and intends to demonstrate that neither the company nor its collaborators have contributed to the facts for which they are being blamed."
The company said it has paid 1.2 billion francs for cleaning the coastline, removing oil from the tanker, and treating the recovered waste.
Victims of the spill complain that 22 months after the spill, the Oil Industry Compensation Fund has only disbursed 15% of the 183 million euros it has in hand.