Will 36,000 Alaskan fishermen receive justice tomorrow from the United States Supreme Court or will the Court favor Exxon Mobil in the case for punitive damages from the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, THE second worst environmental disaster in US history? (Edited: a reader pointed out that THE worst environmental disaster happened in Appalachia in 2000. My apologies. In any case, let us hope for the success for AK so others affected in future disasters will have hope for justice!)
The Anchorage Daily News has outstanding coverage on what happened NINETEEN years ago.
AK Public Radio also offers outstanding coverage today as we review the devastating impact millions (edited/not billions) of gallons of oil had on AK’s rich Prince William Sound.
Personal thoughts from an Alaskan.
Understand, that thousands of Alaskans have died in the ensuing years of court battles. Many committed suicide as the fisheries collapsed and people lost their boats and their homes. Families divorced and the community was split apart.
February 26, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I’m not a fan of punitive damages and even less so in a case like this where there is zero deterrence value. Go Exxon!
February 26, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I believe oral arguments in the case will be tomorrow. An actual decision will come later.
February 26, 2008 at 8:09 pm
The Valdez oil spill was not necessarily the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. The Martin County sludge spill in Appalachian Kentucky was 30 times larger, but an investigation was silenced by the Bush Administration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_County_Sludge_Spill
February 26, 2008 at 8:09 pm
The article said 11 million gallons of oil, not billions. Having said that I hope Exxon is required to pay up.
February 26, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Also…the Martin County spill was in 2000.
And in 1972 the Buffalo Creek disaster unleashed 132 million gallons of sludge and killed 125 people. That seems worse than the Valdez disaster, if you ask me, but you never hear about these anymore, unless you work in Appalachia.
February 26, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Yes, I wonder how our pro-big business (eh, sorry, I meant pro-life) justices will decide….
February 26, 2008 at 9:08 pm
According to the law, one would hope.
February 26, 2008 at 10:51 pm
“Yes, I wonder how our pro-big business (eh, sorry, I meant pro-life) justices will decide….”
Judging by their position on the death penalty, it would seem that they’d be likely to uphold the punitive damages. Punishment for punishment’s sake is what they seem to believe in so it’s in line with the thirst for revenge against big bad oil that is being expressed here.
I, personally, have no interest in revenge thus I support Exxon in this matter. Justice must prevail.
February 27, 2008 at 2:25 am
Gee, MM, I hope the relevant judges will decide in accord with the law. I would hope that judges would be “pro-business” when business has the better of the legal arguments. Perhaps you think differently?
I’m an Alaskan myself, and remember the spill well. Exxon has paid, a lot, since the accident. How much is enough?
February 27, 2008 at 5:45 am
Exxon made about 35 billion dollars of pure profit this year.
Much more than many small countries.
No “innovation” or “quality performance” can possibly justify that level of profit. They make that money because they control access to a limited resource. That is not real competition in an open market. That is monopoly capitalism. And that is the world we live in.
35 billion in pure profit for a single company is theft. It is sin. And you can be sure that when wealth is concentrated in this way, it is being taken from somebody. Somebody pays. And surely, too, somebody dies.
Anyone who claims to be “pro life” without thinking about how to control this “free market” theft is not seeing the whole picture.
And the fact that Exxon can make this 35 billion after dumping 11 billion gallons of oil and killing thousands is … blasphemy.
February 27, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Rick, judges deciding cases purely according to the law and the facts? What a truly radical notion! I of course completely agree.
February 27, 2008 at 3:43 pm
It’s 11 million. Sheesh! It’s still a tragedy of epic proportions but it is MILLIONS not BILLIONS.
February 27, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Rick: “Exxon has paid, a lot, since the accident. How much is enough?” The fishermen who lost their livelihoods have never been compensated. EVER.
February 27, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Radicalcatholicmom, Exxon has paid $287 million in compensatory damages to the fisherman. What is at issue now is whether the fishermen should be paid above and beyond their just compensation in order to punish Exxon.
February 28, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Yeah, Exxon DID pay an average of $15.000 per person. $15,000! What a joke! These people have lost their jobs and they are compensated $15,000. I am sure there are people who think $15,000 is MORE than sufficient. But after reading the Court’s transcripts I don’t think our Justices believe it.
February 28, 2008 at 4:16 pm
The level of compensatory damages was decided by a jury composed of people whom, I suspect, were not inclined to be overly lenient on Exxon. But let’s say that the level of compensatory damages was woefully inadequate. This case is not about compensatory damages. It’s about punitive damages. The purpose of the $2.5 billion, according to the law, is not to compensate those injured in the spill for their harm. It is to deter folks like Exxon from causing other spills in the future. The idea that Exxon needs additional incentives not to run their tankers into the ground doesn’t seem very plausible.
February 28, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Absolutely, BA. I think it is a good question, too. Exxon knew for 3 years that Hazlewood had a drinking problem and yet they did nothing. Highly irresponsible and we can see what happened. Evidently they need extra incentive to enforce their policies and make sure they people running their companies and businesses are competent.
February 28, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I’m not that familiar with the details of Hazelwood’s history with Exxon, but if the billions of dollars in lost revenues didn’t give Exxon an incentive not to let such things happen in the future, it’s not clear that an additional $2.5 billion would do so.
February 28, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Just in case facts matter, in addition to the compensatory damages, Exxon paid millions to local workers– that is, it pumped millions into the local economy — during the very expensive cleanup. And, of course, if we are talking about “punitive damages”, the idea is not to provide additional compensation to those who lost their livelihood, but to punish and deter.