Latest update December 4th, 2024 2:40 AM
Exxon beat down US$5B court judgment for fishermen, natives, landowners to US$507M
After two decades of court battle over infamous Valdez oil spill…
Kaieteur News – On March 24, 1989, an oil tanker owned by ExxonMobil Corporation and dubbed the “Exxon Valdez” ran aground in a body of water in the Gulf of Alaska. It was heading to Long Beach, California with over 50 million barrels of oil but had hit a well-known navigation hazard in Alaska’s waters.
The impact of the collision tore open the ship’s hull, causing some 11 million gallons of crude oil to spill into the ecologically sensitive location.
At the time, it was the largest single oil spill in U.S. waters. Initial attempts to contain the oil failed, and in the months that followed, the oil slick spread, eventually blackening about 1,300 miles of Alaska’s coastline. It was, and still is, regarded as one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history.
Exxon Valdez oil spill workers and maxi-barge hose beach after Corexit test on Quayle beach, Smith Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska, US, on 7 August 1989. Photograph: Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (Arlis) Photograph: ARLIS
The case is often cited by environmentalists here and abroad as a cautionary tale of how risky oil operations can be and for Guyana to be on its guard. But what this case also highlights is the litigative power of ExxonMobil which is also the operator of Guyana’s Stabroek Block.
The oil giant indeed faced numerous lawsuits for the 1989 spill. But it did not roll over and accept all judgments handed down for compensation to those affected.
The state of Alaska had sued Exxon over the spill, and the federal government indicted the company for violating the Clean Water Act. The oil company was forced to dish out US$1 billion in settlements to the state and federal governments, and US$300 million in voluntary settlements with private parties.
A lawsuit was also filed against ExxonMobil on behalf of more than 32,000 fishermen, native Alaskans and landowners, resulting in an award of US$5 billion in punitive damages. Exxon’s full strength in the courts was demonstrated here. In 2008, it appealed the case and got the judgment reduced to $507.5 million. (See link for article referenced: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/the-exxon-valdez-oil-spill/2017/03/14/d131b630-f876-11e6-9845-576c69081518_story.html).
Importantly, the case would drag out for 26 years, showing just how tedious and expensive environmental litigation is. In fact, the case came to a close in October, 2015 in a federal district court in downtown Anchorage, Alaska.
According to international media reports, one of which is attached to this news item, the state and federal governments decided not to pursue a final US$100-million from ExxonMobil over its 1989 oil spill in Prince William Sound.
Judge H. Russel Holland — who presided over the Exxon Valdez case from the start — asked the state and federal governments if they had anything to add to their written filing. They said no. So the judge himself spoke.
“I understand that some will be displeased with the government’s decision,” he had said adding, “But what is clear to me is that the process has been lengthy, it’s been extensive, it’s been expensive.”
Biologist Rick Steiner, who has followed the case since 1989 and pushed the state of Alaska to seek the additional funds, was outraged by the decision.
“It was extremely disappointing,” he had said. “This was a very sad end to a very sad chapter in Alaska’s history. It is an unconscionable betrayal of public trust. Above all, it just validates the public’s distrust of the oil industry, and government promises of responsible oil development in Alaska.” (SEE LINK FOR MORE DETAILS https://alaskapublic.org/2015/10/15/hearing-ends-26-years-of-litigation-over-exxon-valdez-oil-spill/)
The Valdez spill had immense impacts for fish and wildlife and their habitats, as well as for local industries and communities.
The oil killed an estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, as many as 22 killer whales, and billions of salmon and herring eggs.
More than 25 years since the spill, the following species remain in a “Not Recovering” or “Unknown” status: Killer whales (family group known as pod AT1), Kittlitz’s murrelets, Marbled murrelets, and Pigeon guillemots. (See link: https://darrp.noaa.gov/oil-spills/exxon-valdez#:~:text=The%20spill%20affected%20more%20than,2%2C800%20sea%20otters)
Some reports estimate the total economic loss from the Exxon Valdez oil spill to be as much as US$2.8 billion.
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