Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) announced today that it would not challenge the ruling of an appeals court stating that it was to pay $470 million in interest on the $507.5 million judgment related to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.The Exxon Valdez oil spill took place back in 1989, and victims have been trying to get some money from Exxon ever since. In 1994 the victims won a $5 billion judgment, but Exxon has fought that ruling for the past 15 years.
It all started when the captain of the Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood ran the ship into the reef of Alaska's Prince William Sound, spilling 11 million barrels of oil. The spill devastated local wildlife and businesses. Exxon argued that it had done its part in helping to clean up the mess, and eventually was able to get the $5 billion verdict lowered to $507.5 million.
With so much time having past, the next question was what sort of interest Exxon would be responsible to pay. Earlier this month the courts ruled that Exxon should be responsible for interest going all the way back to 1996. The total of this interest comes to $470 million, and Exxon said that it would pay this amount on July 1.
For local fisherman and business owners that had their livelihood wiped out as a result of the spill, today's announcement comes as good news, but still comes well under what they had been hoping to see from the company.
Exxon may be willing to pay out its interest obligations, but the company has not seen its last day in court just yet. It has also been ordered to pay $70 million in court fees, which it is contesting. Exxon argues that the plaintiffs should be required to pay up to $70 million in fees that it incurred during the appeals process. Yesterday it asked a panel of appeals court judges to re-hear the decision from earlier this month that it was responsible for its own fees.
So while we still have to wait and see what comes of the $70 million in legal fees, we have moved at least one step closer to putting this 20 year legal battle to rest.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-01-2009 @ 12:35AM
Don said...
That is a misleading headline if ever I saw one..... Exxon has been fighting this lawsuit not for 15 years but for 20 years! And, Exxon is certainly not finished trying to reduce or eliminate the fines and interest. I am proud to say that I have never bought ExxonMobil gas and never will for the damage they have done to our environment. Image,,,,this compnay makes $10 BILLION in pure profit each quarter and they continue to complain about a $500 Million judgement spread over 20 years! The chairman of Exxon could probably write a personal check and move on......
7-01-2009 @ 5:17AM
al coholic said...
It's a shame there is no real way to boycott this company. The large oil companies have arranged their dealerships in such a way as to make an effective boycott nearly impossble.
In the late 60's I owned an Arco station. Within four or five blocks were quite a few other nationally branded stations like Mobile, American, Esso and a couple of others I can't remember. Price wars were common. Our Arco rep gave us support when the competitors lowered their prices. By the way, in 1969 our price for regular was $.22 per gallon.
Suddenly the manufacturers got together and split up the country into little "fiefdoms" and each oil company got a piece of the country with limited competition from the other giants. So now there is far less competition between major companies by price. The oil companies claimed they were serving the public by cutting distribution costs but in the end, like always, the consumer gets hosed when there are only a few big boys in the market with a huge barrier to entry by new suppliers.
For example, In the upstate of South Carolina where I live BP is everywhere but except for very few Exxon stations, that's the extent of the national players. except for the no-name convenience stores.
7-17-2009 @ 3:56PM
nuffalready said...
Hey bloggers...big oil isnt so big anymore. The government companies have all the oil now. Why arent we having a group hate for Aramco, Pemex, Petroecuador, etc? Why arent we talking about how they are harming our environment and hurting our eco feelings? Why arent we discussing their profits and how are entitled to them?