The US and Alaska yesterday said they will stop pursuing from
ExxonMobil an additional $92mn in environmental restoration costs
related to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, bringing a close to more
than two decades of litigation against the company.
The grounding of the
Exxon Valdez oil tanker off the coast of Alaska spilled nearly 260,000 bl of crude,
an accident that killed thousands of birds, sea otters and seals.
ExxonMobil in a settlement in 1991 agreed to pay the government a $125mn
penalty and an additional $900mn to support the restoration of wildlife
and the cleanup of an estimated 1,500 miles (2,414km) of coastline
fouled by the spill.
That settlement included an ability for the
government to reopen the suit to pursue additional damages for lingering
oil patches from the spill. The US and Alaska followed through on that
provision in 2006 and demanded that the company pay a further $92mn to
help support a restoration plan.
But further studies completed
since then have found that duck and sea otter populations have recovered
from the oil spill, prompting the US and Alaska to tell a federal court
yesterday that they would "not file a reopener claim and that this
litigation will remain closed."
US Department of Justice attorney
John Cruden yesterday said they had successfully preserved the
government's ability to recover damages and to continue the
investigation "to its logical end."
But Alaska attorney general
Craig Richards said the decision to end the litigation would not "close
the book on lingering oil." A trustee council set up after the spill
still has $200mn to continue environmental restoration work.
ExxonMobil declined to comment.
(Argus, 15 October, 2015)