ANCHORAGE, Alaska: A federal judge ordered Exxon Mobil Corp. to pay about $6.75 billion to thousands of Alaskans affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
The ruling on Wednesday is the latest of several damage awards in the case over the past decade – the result of successful appeals in federal court by Exxon. The company plans to appeal again.
Wednesday’s ruling by US District Judge Russel Holland ordered the Irving, Texas-based company to pay $4.5 billion in punitive damages and about $2.25 billion in interest.
The money is to go to 32,000 fishermen, Alaska Natives, landowners, small businesses and cities affected by the 42 million litre spill in Prince William Sound.
“We have now closed the trial court doors for the last time in this litigation after 15 years,” said David Oesting, lead attorney for those who sued. “We’re definitely on track to the end of the entire dispute.” The judge had been ordered by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the damages awarded in an earlier ruling in light of a Supreme Court decision last year concerning punitive damages.
“This ruling flies in the face of the guidelines set by the appeals court,” company n to punish an insurance company was grossly excessive when actual damages were $1 million.
The Supreme Court held that the ratio of punitive to actual damages should not exceed 9-to-1.
Attorneys for both sides came up with different estimates for actual damages from the Exxon spill, and both argued that the Supreme Court decision supported their damage claims.
The spill occurred on March 23, 1989, less than three hours after the Exxon Valdez left the Alyeska Pipeline terminal.
The ship grounded, rupturing eight of its 11 cargo tanks and spewing crude oil into the sound.
An estimated 250,000 seabirds and thousands of marine mammals died as a result of the spill, which contaminated more than 1,930km of shoreline.
Lingering effects of the spill include declines in various marine populations, as well as stunted growth in such species as pink salmon. – AP
Last update on: 30-1-2004