Abstract

Whatever It Takes

It's been ten years since a federal jury awarded the fishers and Natives on the sound $5.2 billion in punitive damages from Exxon, but not a single check from that award has been cut. Instead, Exxon has been fighting the verdict, employing hundreds of lawyers, filing countless appeals and effectively buying science that supports its claims. And even when ordinary people think they've finally won--that the final appeal has been denied--they haven't. On March 23, 1989, Captain Joseph Hazelwood stepped onto the oil tanker Exxon Valdez having consumed, according to him, three vodkas on the rocks at various bars in the port city of Valdez. The 11-million-gallon spill that occurred while he was in command eventually spread down 1,200 miles of coastline. The environmental damage was catastrophic. For a few months, the disaster was imprinted on the national consciousness. But as time passed, it was reduced to a few stubborn media images. An out-of-work commercial fisherman was never among the emblems. But the fishermen were long-term victims too. When Exxon and Mobil presented a merger proposal to the Federal Trade Commission in 1999, many saw an opportunity for the federal government to put pressure on Exxon to pay the punitive fine. At the end of January, Judge Holland increased the punitive damage award against Exxon from $4.2 billion to $4.5 billion, plus the $2 billion of interest that has accrued on the award since 1994. O'Neill expects Exxon will appeal.