Analysis On The Cases Of Water Pollution Environmental Tort Caused By Oil Leakage

Environmental tort is an important issue in judicial practice in recent years,and water pollution liability disputes are also typical cases of environmental tort.Han sued Jilin oil field branch of CNPC for water pollution liability dispute,which is about the tort liability dispute of water pollution caused by the pollution of aquiculture pond caused by the leakage of crude oil.There are three core issues in this case: the determination of the causal relationship between the crude oil leakage and the damage result,the determination of the cause of the defendant’s relief or exemption from liability,and the determination of the defendant’s liability for damages.First of all,although the crude oil leakage does not occur during the production activities,it has nothing to do with whether it exceeds the emission standards,but the abandoned oil wells are also the leftover products of the production activities of the enterprise.As the owner of the abandoned oil wells,the defendant’s crude oil leakage is also a discharge pollution behavior.Therefore,whether or not due to its fault caused by the leakage of waste oil wells and crude oil into a fish pond,it should be liable for tort damages caused by pollution.According to the evidence and relevant facts provided by Han,it can be concluded that the pollution caused by the crude oil leakage is related to the damage to a fish pond in Han,and the defendant fails to prove that there is no causal relationship between the pollution discharge and the damage.Secondly,the condition that "force majeure" becomes the exemption cause of environmental tort is that the infringer has taken corresponding measures before and after the occurrence of force majeure to avoid the result of environmental pollution damage,and the infringer must be in good faith subjectively.The fault of the third party is not the reason for the water polluter to reduce or exempt from liability,but the water polluter can recover from the third party after compensating for loss.Thirdly,the flood is an important medium for the pollution incident and an important reason for the loss of a certain fish farming,which can be considered as a factor for the defendant to reduce his liability.However,the defendant shall bear the cost of failing to raise fish one year after an accident and the cost of repairing the fish pond dam,water injection and sewage discharge.Finally,the Supreme Court can issue guiding cases to guide the relevant application,clarify the judgment standards of the illegal elements of water pollution environmental infringement,and not only consider the existence or abolition of the illegal elements,so as to solve the problem of the balance between the normative freedom of production and operation activities of enterprises and the benefits of the infringed human rights.At the same time,in view of the distribution of the burden of proof of water pollution environmental tort in China,and the confusion in the actual application,it is very important to refine the burden of proof of such tort in the form of judicial interpretation.