[seadog] Valdez back in the news

Wednesday June 12, 7:01 pm Eastern Time 
Press Release
SOURCE: Exxon Mobil Corp. 
ExxonMobil Files Motion to Reduce Valdez Punitive Damages Award
IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 12, 2002--Exxon Mobil Corporation today
filed a motion with the federal court in Anchorage for a reduction of the
punitive damages awarded in the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident. The motion is
consistent with a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision last year which
declared the $5 billion punitive damages award "excessive" and sent the case
back to the Anchorage District Court with orders to reduce the award to an
amount consistent with constitutional limits. 
In filing the motion ExxonMobil said the Valdez oil spill was a tragic
accident that the company deeply regrets. It added that the company took
immediate responsibility for the spill, cleaned it up, and voluntarily
compensated those who claimed direct damages. 
ExxonMobil paid $300 million immediately and voluntarily to more than 11,000
Alaskans and businesses affected by the Valdez spill. In addition, the
company paid $2.2 billion on the cleanup of Prince William Sound, staying
with the cleanup from 1989 to 1992, when the State of Alaska and the U.S.
Coast Guard declared the cleanup complete. ExxonMobil also has paid $1
billion in settlements with the state and federal governments. That money is
being used for environmental studies and conservation programs for Prince
William Sound. 
In today's motion ExxonMobil said that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
found that none of the "aggravating factors" identified by the Supreme Court
as justifying a large punitive damages award were present in the Valdez
case. Those factors include violence, intentional spilling of oil, and
trickery to hide or facilitate the spill. In fact, the trial court noted in
its ruling that "immediately after the spill Exxon stepped forward with both
its people and its pocketbook and did what had to be done under difficult
circumstances." 
Closely following the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' analysis of the
guidelines set by the U.S. Supreme Court, ExxonMobil argues that punitive
damages should be consistent with the amount of the fine imposed by the
government for the Valdez spill ($25 million) and, in no event, exceed twice
the compensatory damages awarded to private plaintiffs as a result of the
spill ($40 million). The company said that an award of $40 million would be
"only slightly less than the largest punitive damages award ever approved by
any federal appellate court anywhere." 
Note: The largest punitive damages award approved on appeal by any federal
court is $58.5 million in United International, followed by Rhone-Poulenc at
$50 million. Both were for intentional fraud.



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