Okla-homey
3/24/2008, 06:08 AM
March 24, 1989: Exxon Valdez runs aground
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/49432/2003147119938148851_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003147119938148851)
Nineteen years ago toady, the worst oil spill in U.S. territory begins when the supertanker Exxon Valdez, owned and operated by the Exxon Corporation, runs aground on a reef in Prince William Sound in southern Alaska.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/46924/2003105853465230908_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003105853465230908)
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/47538/2003108569218950561_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003108569218950561)
An estimated 11 million gallons of oil eventually spilled into the water. Attempts to contain the massive spill were unsuccessful, and wind and currents spread the oil more than 100 miles from its source, eventually polluting more than 700 miles of coastline. Hundreds of thousands of birds and animals were adversely affected by the mess.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/49614/2003177641015707711_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003177641015707711)
It was later revealed that Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of the Valdez, was drinking at the time of the accident and allowed an uncertified officer to steer the massive vessel. In March 1990, Hazelwood was convicted of misdemeanor negligence, fined $50,000, and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service.
In July 1992, an Alaska court overturned Hazelwood's conviction, citing a federal statute that grants freedom from prosecution to those who report an oil spill.
Exxon (now ExxonMobil) itself was condemned by the National Transportation Safety Board and in early 1991 agreed under pressure from environmental groups to pay a penalty of $100 million and provide $1 billion over a 10-year period for the cost of the cleanup.
In 1994, in the case of Baker vs. Exxon, an Anchorage jury awarded $287 million for actual damages and $5 billion for punitive damages. The punitive damages amount was equal to a single year's profit by Exxon at that time.
Exxon appealed the ruling, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the original judge, Russel Holland, to reduce the punitive damages. On December 6, 2002, the judge announced that he had reduced the damages to $4 billion, which he concluded was justified by the facts of the case and was not grossly excessive.
Exxon appealed again and the case returned to court to be considered in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling in a similar case, which caused Judge Holland to increase the punitive damages to $4.5 billion, plus interest.
After more appeals, and oral arguments heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on 27 January 2006, the damages award was cut to $2.5 billion on 22 December 2006. The court cited recent Supreme Court rulings relative to limits on punitive damages.
Exxon appealed again. On 23 May 2007, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied ExxonMobil's request for a third hearing and let stand its ruling that Exxon owes $2.5 billion in punitive damages. Exxon then appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/48006/2003113561570751583_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003113561570751583)
Sam Alito, owning a up to a quarter million bucks worth of ExxonMobil stock recused himself
Last month, on February 27, 2008, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for 90 minutes. A decision is expected before the court's term ends in July. Justice Samuel Alito, who owns between $100,000 and $250,000 in Exxon stock, recused himself from the case.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/46924/2003131235607603863_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003131235607603863)
Exxon's official position is that punitive damages greater than $25 million are not justified because the spill resulted from an accident, and because Exxon spent an estimated $2 billion cleaning up the spill and a further $1 billion to settle related civil and criminal charges.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/49779/2003143876105408973_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003143876105408973)
Attorneys for the plaintiffs contended that Exxon bore responsibility for the accident because the company "put a drunk in charge of a tanker in Prince William Sound."
And what of the ship? Exxon Valdez was towed to San Diego, arriving on July 10, 1989. Repairs began on July 30. Approximately 1,600 tons of steel were removed and replaced. In June 1990 the tanker, renamed S/R Mediterranean, left harbor after $30 million of repairs. It is still sailing. The vessel is current owned by SeaRiver Maritime, a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil.
Captain Hazelwood never had his masters' license revoked and it remains valid to this date, but he has been unable to find long-term work as a captain after the spill. In a show of solidarity his alma mater, SUNY Maritime College, hired him as a teacher aboard T/S Empire State V the year after the incident with the Valdez. He works as a paralegal and maritime consultant with New York City's Chalos & Brown, the firm that represented him in his legal cases. He resides on Long Island in Huntington, New York.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/48000/2004966399468471281_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004966399468471281)
Joseph Hazelwood (left) as the patron saint of the "Smokers" in the film Waterworld. Dennis Hopper (right) saying, "St. Joe we're close, after centuries of shame."
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/49432/2003147119938148851_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003147119938148851)
Nineteen years ago toady, the worst oil spill in U.S. territory begins when the supertanker Exxon Valdez, owned and operated by the Exxon Corporation, runs aground on a reef in Prince William Sound in southern Alaska.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/46924/2003105853465230908_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003105853465230908)
http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/47538/2003108569218950561_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003108569218950561)
An estimated 11 million gallons of oil eventually spilled into the water. Attempts to contain the massive spill were unsuccessful, and wind and currents spread the oil more than 100 miles from its source, eventually polluting more than 700 miles of coastline. Hundreds of thousands of birds and animals were adversely affected by the mess.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/49614/2003177641015707711_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003177641015707711)
It was later revealed that Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of the Valdez, was drinking at the time of the accident and allowed an uncertified officer to steer the massive vessel. In March 1990, Hazelwood was convicted of misdemeanor negligence, fined $50,000, and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service.
In July 1992, an Alaska court overturned Hazelwood's conviction, citing a federal statute that grants freedom from prosecution to those who report an oil spill.
Exxon (now ExxonMobil) itself was condemned by the National Transportation Safety Board and in early 1991 agreed under pressure from environmental groups to pay a penalty of $100 million and provide $1 billion over a 10-year period for the cost of the cleanup.
In 1994, in the case of Baker vs. Exxon, an Anchorage jury awarded $287 million for actual damages and $5 billion for punitive damages. The punitive damages amount was equal to a single year's profit by Exxon at that time.
Exxon appealed the ruling, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the original judge, Russel Holland, to reduce the punitive damages. On December 6, 2002, the judge announced that he had reduced the damages to $4 billion, which he concluded was justified by the facts of the case and was not grossly excessive.
Exxon appealed again and the case returned to court to be considered in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling in a similar case, which caused Judge Holland to increase the punitive damages to $4.5 billion, plus interest.
After more appeals, and oral arguments heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on 27 January 2006, the damages award was cut to $2.5 billion on 22 December 2006. The court cited recent Supreme Court rulings relative to limits on punitive damages.
Exxon appealed again. On 23 May 2007, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied ExxonMobil's request for a third hearing and let stand its ruling that Exxon owes $2.5 billion in punitive damages. Exxon then appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.
http://aycu07.webshots.com/image/48006/2003113561570751583_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003113561570751583)
Sam Alito, owning a up to a quarter million bucks worth of ExxonMobil stock recused himself
Last month, on February 27, 2008, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for 90 minutes. A decision is expected before the court's term ends in July. Justice Samuel Alito, who owns between $100,000 and $250,000 in Exxon stock, recused himself from the case.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/46924/2003131235607603863_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003131235607603863)
Exxon's official position is that punitive damages greater than $25 million are not justified because the spill resulted from an accident, and because Exxon spent an estimated $2 billion cleaning up the spill and a further $1 billion to settle related civil and criminal charges.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/49779/2003143876105408973_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003143876105408973)
Attorneys for the plaintiffs contended that Exxon bore responsibility for the accident because the company "put a drunk in charge of a tanker in Prince William Sound."
And what of the ship? Exxon Valdez was towed to San Diego, arriving on July 10, 1989. Repairs began on July 30. Approximately 1,600 tons of steel were removed and replaced. In June 1990 the tanker, renamed S/R Mediterranean, left harbor after $30 million of repairs. It is still sailing. The vessel is current owned by SeaRiver Maritime, a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil.
Captain Hazelwood never had his masters' license revoked and it remains valid to this date, but he has been unable to find long-term work as a captain after the spill. In a show of solidarity his alma mater, SUNY Maritime College, hired him as a teacher aboard T/S Empire State V the year after the incident with the Valdez. He works as a paralegal and maritime consultant with New York City's Chalos & Brown, the firm that represented him in his legal cases. He resides on Long Island in Huntington, New York.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/48000/2004966399468471281_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2004966399468471281)
Joseph Hazelwood (left) as the patron saint of the "Smokers" in the film Waterworld. Dennis Hopper (right) saying, "St. Joe we're close, after centuries of shame."