Years later, Valdez's stain remains

ExxonMobil's legal battle rages 18 years after the oil spill, as the case is likely headed to the Supreme Court.

from the June 4, 2007 edition

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ExxonMobil Corp. disputes claims by biologists, fishermen, and others that the damaging effects continue, including drop-offs in herring and some salmon runs. On its website, ExxonMobil asserts that "hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific studies conducted by researchers from major independent scientific laboratories and academic institutions" have proved that "the environment in Prince William Sound is healthy, robust and thriving."

The Texas-based oil giant points out that it already has spent some $3 billion on environmental cleanup, government settlements, fines, and compensation.

But on May 23, the Ninth Circuit Court upheld a $2.5 billion punitive damages judgment against ExxonMobil, which originally had been set at $5 billion by a federal jury in 1994.

Among the plaintiffs in the case are some 33,000 fishermen, cannery workers, business owners, native Alaskans, and others.

In its ruling last month – its third in the case since 1994 – the appeals court declared, "It is time for this protracted litigation to end." Plaintiffs agree, noting that at least 6,000 of those who originally claimed to have been harmed by the massive oil spill have since died.

Earlier this year, ExxonMobil reported the largest-ever annual profit by a US company – $39.5 billion in net income. At their annual meeting in Dallas this week, company executives faced a vocal minority of shareholders demanding that ExxonMobil set goals for reducing greenhouse gases and committing to invest more in renewable energy sources.

So far, ExxonMobil has declined to join BP, ConocoPhillips, and Shell as part of the US Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of corporations and environmental groups pushing for binding legal limits on greenhouse gases.

After the 1989 spill, the Exxon Valdez was banished from Prince William Sound, renamed the "SeaRiver Mediterranean," and sent to other parts of the world. In 1990, Congress passed a law banning single-hulled tankers like the Valdez from domestic waters by 2015.

Meanwhile, in Cordova, Alaska – the fishing village most devastated by the oil spill – villagers recently erected a "ridicule pole." It's a traditional native yellow cedar totem pole mocking a company official's promise shortly after the Exxon Valdez ran aground: "We will do whatever it takes to keep you whole."

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