I remember at the time of the Exxon Valdez spill that one of the Trustees of the Oil Spill Board said something like “Lawyers not yet born will work on this one”.And so it seems. The legal case is still stuck. So it comes as not surprise that on last Friday’s spill Anniversary, Republican Congressman Dave Reichert wrote to Congress to aks them to pressure Exxon to pay its $4.5 billion punitive-damages award stemming from a lawsuit by fishermen and Alaska Natives.
“Exxon is a company that made $36 billion last year. They ought to be able to pay off these people in 17 years, don’t you think?” said Reichert “There have been 4,000 motions, dozens of appeals, and all they continue to do is delay.” Reichert says he wants the chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil, Rex Tillerson, to resolve the protracted litigation and “pay up.” You can see Reichert’s letter here.
Its about time, don’t you think?