Exxon Petitions U.S. Supreme Court Over Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Public Statement by Exxpose Exxon
By Shawnee Hoover, campaign director Exxpose Exxon
August 31, 2007
In addition to causing irreparable harm to the ecosystem of Alaska's Prince William Sound, Exxon has denied justice to thousands of victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill for over 18 years. Now the company is on its last leg - appealing to the U.S. Supreme to review its case. Perhaps it is precisely because this case has been going on for so long that Exxon hopes people will forget the case's gory details.
In its petition, Exxon asks the court if punitive damages may be imposed against a shipowner for the conduct of a ship's master captain, "when the conduct was contrary to policies established and enforced by the owner."
Let it not be forgotten that the spill was preventable. The captain of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker, Joseph Hazelwood, was drinking the day the ship hit a reef and began spilling what would be 11 million or more gallons of oil that coated 1,300 miles of coastline and devastated wildlife. According to numerous testimonies already presented to the courts, for three years "the highest executives in Exxon Shipping knew that Hazelwood had an alcohol problem, knew he had been treated for it, and knew he had fallen off the wagon and was drinking on board their ships."
Reports of violations, including drunk driving, continued up to two weeks prior to the disaster. Exxon failed to enforce its policies and take action against the captain in order to safeguard the community and prevent a spill. It is this fact that caused the lower courts to deem Exxon's actions not just "reckless" but also "reprehensible." Arguing that "further punishment" is unwarranted is akin to a drunk driver who kills a playing child on the sidewalk arguing he should only be liable for damages to the vehicle.
Exxon also claims that "most of the plaintiffs were fully compensated for their actual damages within one year of the spill." In truth, Exxon quickly settled with 11,000 fishermen and women in the major fisheries. The other 33,000 fishermen and women in the smaller fisheries, Native Alaskans, property owners, and others were not compensated for the economic injuries to their livelihoods, subsistence way of life, property, and certainly not for their individual or collective emotional distress. The herring fish industry, which once supported thousands of lives and livelihoods, remains closed to this day. For years Exxon has argued that it should only have to pay $25 million to the plaintiffs – amounting to less than $800 each.
So, has ExxonMobil learned its lesson? Are punitive damages really necessary? Punitive damages are in part awarded to deter similar reckless behavior in the future. Consider this: ExxonMobil is the only company still operating a single-hulled oil tanker in the spill area, the Exxon Valdez sister ship: Sea River Long Beach. Apparently, neither the $3.5 billion Exxon claims it has spent on settlements nor the threat of $5 to $2.5 billion in punitive damages has resulted in a real behavioral change.
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The Exxpose Exxon campaign is a collaborative effort of some of the nation's largest environmental and public advocacy organizations to educate and activate the public about ExxonMobil's efforts to block action on global warming, drill in the Arctic Refuge, and keep America addicted to oil.
BRIEF BACKGROUND
On March 24, 1989 the unthinkable happened…
Eleven million gallons or more of North Slope crude oil began pouring out of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker into the pristine waters of Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Hundreds of thousands of fish, seabirds, bald eagles, otters, seals and whales were maimed and killed. The native communities whose lives depended on those waters for commercial and subsistence fishing were, and still are, devastated. In 1994, ExxonMobil was found “reckless” and "reprehensible" by judge and jury and ordered to pay $5 billion in punitive damages to the 33,000 victims of the spill. ExxonMobil argues it should pay only $25 million. The company has appealed every verdict since, dragging the plaintiffs and their families through thirteen years of litigation. Some 6,000 plaintiffs have died awaiting compensation. In 2006, the damages were lowered to $2.5 billion based on a milder interpretation of "reprehensible". ExxonMobil appealed for the court to reconsider and was denied. In August 2007, Exxon petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
