Alaskan officials said today that Prince William Sound is still suffering the impact of Exxon’s big spill. That’s good grist for drilling opponents who can argue: Why chance another environmental disaster, especially since federal officials say offshore drilling will have little impact on the price of a barrel of oil? Oil spills may not be forever, but they take a couple of decades to clean-up.ExxonMobil believes it’s time to put the Exxon Valdez behind it. The company is ready to move on following the High Court’s decision to throw out a $2.5B punitive damage awarded to Alaskans affected by the nation’s biggest spill. They will now get $507M, truly chump change for ExxonMobil. That sum, based on `08 net earnings of $45B, is a little bit more than four days of profits for the energy giant. In human terms, the ruling cuts the average payout to Alaskans from $75K to $15K. That is hardly chump change.
Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin knocked the Supreme Court for “gutting” the punitive awards. Her heart goes out to the thousands of fishermen who lost their jobs and livelihoods. She also paid homage to the “families of the thousands of Alaskans who passed away while waiting for justice.”
ExxonMobil’s lawyers, indeed, did a good job.
The Los Angeles Times(Feb. 27) described Cordova, the Sound’s second biggest fishing village, as the “prettiest dying town most Americans will never see.” Post-spill, Cordova’s fishing fleet shrunk by half, five canneries went bust, countess fishermen/ cannery workers hit the road and Cordova’s Mayor committed suicide. A local told the LAT his town is “part of the living dead.”
ExxonMobil has washed its hands of the spill. It says it has done its part to fix the mess, shelling out $3.5B in clean-up fees and fines. Its scientists claim the Sound is in good shape.
That’s flat out wrong, counters Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game Commissioner Denby Lloyd. “The fish and wildlife, as well as the people of Alaska and Prince William Sound are still feeling the harmful effects of Exxon’s actions to this date. It will be years more before they fully recover from this tragedy,” Lloyd said today.
ExxonMobil is not noted for good PR. But now that the big legal battle is over, ExxonMobil could do its reputation a world of good by throwing a financial lifeline to the people in Alaska whose lives it ruined. A lifetime of free gas would be a good place to start.
