Call for an extra Exxon Valdez payout

Disaster Prevention and Management

ISSN: 0965-3562

Article publication date: 1 August 2002

151

Citation

(2002), "Call for an extra Exxon Valdez payout", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 11 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2002.07311cab.004

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited


Call for an extra Exxon Valdez payout

Call for an extra Exxon Valdez payout

Twelve years after the Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and caused the worst oil spill in US history, the energy giant is making its last scheduled payment to settle government claims for environmental damage, A $70 million payment was due on Saturday from Exxon Mobil as part of a landmark $1,025 billion civil and criminal settlement reached in 1991. At the time, it was the biggest out-of-court settlement for environmental litigation. But environmentalists say that the company should pay more because oil still stains some Prince William Sound beaches and fish and wildlife are struggling. A coalition is calling on Alaska governor Tony Knowles and president George W. Bush to use a "re-opener" clause in the settlement that allows Exxon to be billed for an additional $100 million if unanticipated damages are discovered. The 11 million gallon spill in 1989 has continued to hurt herring, sea duck and some killer whales and left fish and wildlife vulnerable to disease and reproductive failure – problems that were not reasonably expected in 1991, say environmentalists. "The damage is serious. It's ongoing and it needs to be addressed as quickly as possible," said Rick Steiner, a marine biologist who organised a group called the Coastal Coalition. At a news conference, he held up a jar of oil collected in July from Prince William Sound beaches. "This is still toxic. It's relatively unweathered," he said. "It's still causing contamination." Exxon Mobil says the spill left no lasting damage.

(Lloyd's Casualty Week, Vol. 325 No. 11, 7 September 2001).

Related articles