Valdez Oil Spill follow up

The Valdez oil spill was a tragic accident that the company deeply regrets. 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.
Virtually all Valdez compensatory -- actual -- damages were paid in full within one year of the accident, and the trial court commended ExxonMobil for coming forward "with its people and its pocketbook and doing what had to be done under difficult circumstances." The punitive damages suggested by Alaska Judge Holland are not a debt that is owed -- they represent a windfall in excess of the amount the jury found necessary to compensate the plaintiffs for their losses.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has twice thrown out Judge Holland's decisions in this matter, which is a clear indication that there is validity to ExxonMobil's arguments that the punitive damage award is indeed "excessive." In fact, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals used that very word in vacating the Anchorage judge's first decision.
The plaintiffs' attorneys have not hesitated to seek appeals and delays in this case when they believed it was to their advantage to do so. These attorneys, many of whom do not live in the state and have not made any contributions to the quality of life in Alaska, stand to make an enormous windfall off the Valdez accident if the punitive damage award is upheld.

this is from the Exxon Mobil website