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State, federal hearings on Exxon Valdez oil spill damage claims prove emotional
Oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker grounding still lingers on and just below Alaska’s surface. So does the resentment.
Like ripping open a thin scab from a wound that never healed, a recent series of state hearings on the continued effects of the 11-million-gallon spill has brought the pain and anger of those affected by the spill bubbling back to the surface.
In sometimes emotional testimony on April 8, Alaska fishermen, Native leaders, conservationists and academics told a panel of state and federal officials that new damages of up to $100 million should be claimed against Exxon Mobil Corp. for the unexpected effects of the tanker grounding.
“What Exxon did to us is not fair, what has been done to us is a travesty,” said Robert Wolfe, a fisherman who lives in Girdwood.
Dozens of people have spoken at hearings in the cities of Anchorage, Cordova and Kodiak that state officials are holding to decide whether to file a claim for additional damages. Additional hearings are scheduled in Valdez and Seward.
Some who testified raged against ExxonMobil. Some offered ideas about research and restoration projects that could be done with the money. Others talked about specific species that haven’t recovered in Prince William Sound, such as Pacific herring.
“We’re just fishermen, but it’s a way of life and it’s been destroyed,” said Evan Beedle of Cordova.
Bill Hall, a former mayor of Cordova said the state and federal governments should be able to figure out for themselves the lingering effects of the oil spill. These hearings have sharpened the pain of the memories, he said.
“This for me is an experience of a lingering effect of the oil spill. It’s dragging and making it more painful and sustained over time,” Hall said.
Alaska Attorney General David Marquez, who is holding the hearings, said he was struck by the emotion of the hearings.
“One of the things, of course, we have been reminded about is the great passion that surrounds the aftermath of this horrible tragedy, and that’s important for us to hear,” Marquez said.
Reopener included in ’91 settlement In a 1991 civil settlement, Exxon agreed to pay $900 million over a 10-year period ending in 2001. A “reopener” provision created a window from 2002 to 2006 in which the state and federal governments could claim up to an additional $100 million. That is separate from an unresolved punitive damage judgment of $4.5 billion against the company, which has not been paid.
ExxonMobil spokesman Mark Boudreaux has said the company has paid the compensation it owes and its studies show that Prince William Sound is “healthy, robust and thriving.”
But an assessment of the lingering oil presented by consultant Lucinda Jacobs for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council estimated that as much as six miles of shoreline in Prince William Sound are still affected by the spill, and as much as 100 tons of Exxon Valdez oil remains in the sound.
Besides herring, killer whales, sea otters, harbor seals, some species of sea birds and other animals still have populations less than before the spill.
There is a great deal of uncertainty, particularly with the herring population, of whether the continued decline in populations is due to the lingering effects of the oil.
The reopener provision in the settlement with Exxon expires Sept. 1, and the state and federal governments must file a claim 90 days before that date. To claim the money, the governments would have to prove that a population, habitat or species had suffered loss or decline in the area of the spill, and that loss can be linked to the spill. Plus, the state and federal governments would have to prove the loss was not known or anticipated when the settlement was signed.
—The Associated Press
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