Exxon Takes Case to Supreme Court: Valdez Fine "Unconstitutionally Excessive"

Map showing the effected area of Valdez oil spill Claiming that they are not responsible for the actions of their employees, Exxon is challenging the $2.5 billion dollar fine levied for the 1989 Valdez oil spill disaster in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.

The decision was upheld in the 9^th circuit Court of Appeals and it is announced that the US Supreme Court has thus agreed to hear the case and allow Exxon to argue that the punitive damages $2.5 billion punitive damages are excessive and “unconstitutional”. Exxon has paid $3.4 billion already for cleanup costs and reparations. The Exxon Valdez grounded and spilling crude oil into Pince William Sound

Exxon has the right to pursue the legal avenues open to anyone, though one can’t help but wonder if a corporation with profits (not revenue, put pure profit) topping $39.5 billion in 2006 have those avenues opened more readily than those without such an astronomical and unprecedented profit margin.

It will be interesting to see how Exxon’s army of attorneys makes the case that the punitive damages handed down are actually “unconstitutional”, but as reported in wired science, there does seem to be precedent in place making Exxon responsible.

The Valdez spilled 11 millions gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound, fouling 1200 miles of pristine Alaskan coastline, killing hundreds of thousands of seabirds, and devastating fish and sea mammal habitats throughout the Sound. The spill also devastated native Alaskan communities that rely on the Sound for their livelihood.

A duck covered in crude oil from the Exxon Valdez oil spill I was just in Alaska and visited Prince William Sound, in and around Seward, not in the principal area effected. Nonetheless, the entire region is still recovering from the disaster.