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(COMTEX) B: Federal Appeals Court Declines To Reconsider Exxon Valdez Ruli
g ( Investrend )
B: Federal Appeals Court Declines To Reconsider Exxon Valdez Ruling ( Investrend
)
May 24, 2007 (financialwire.net via COMTEX) --
May 24, 2007 (FinancialWire) A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected
Exxon Mobil Corp.'s (NYSE: XOM) request for it to reconsider its earlier
decision that cut nearly in half a $4.5 billion jury award punishing the
company for the 1989 Valdez oil spill that fouled 1,500 miles of Alaskan
coastline.
In December, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reduced the punitive
damage award to $2.5 billion in a case that began with a 1994 decision by an
Anchorage jury siding with 34,000 fishermen and other Alaskans. The
plaintiffs said they were hurt when Exxon's oil tanker struck a charted reef
and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil.
Exxon still sees the award as excessive and will appeal the decision to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1994, a federal jury found that Exxon and Valdez captain Joseph Hazelwood
acted recklessly, which opened the company to punitive damages.
The disaster, the worst oil spill in U.S. history, prompted Congress in 1990
to pass a law banning single-hulled tankers like the Valdez from domestic
waters by 2015.
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