Supreme Court’s Exxon Valdez Ruling a Mixed Bag

June 25, 2008 Washington, DC – The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) supported efforts to force Exxon to pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages as a result of 1989’s Valdez oil spill and sees today’s verdict as at least partial vindication that unfortunately comes too little too late.

“The Court’s decision to cut punitive damages to $500 million after two decades of fighting this thing out is disappointing,” said NFI President John Connelly. “However, it does send a message to others that recklessness of this kind comes with a price tag.”

The oil giant asked the court to strike down the award altogether questioning whether a ship owner should have to pay punitive damages at all for the conduct of a ship’s “master at sea.”

“The idea that a company that made more than $10 billion in profits last quarter alone would not be held financially accountable for a spill of this magnitude is laughable,” said Connelly. “Maritime businesses throughout the Prince William Sound were forced into bankruptcy or dire finical straits in the wake of the spill.”

The court ruled Exxon should not be forced to pay punitive damages that exceed what it already paid in compensatory damages.

“This verdict doesn’t make the impact of the spill go away. Lest we forget, we’re talking about roughly the equivalent of 125 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of oil spilled over a region that contains 9,000 miles of shoreline, in an area where people make their living from fishing.”

For more than 60 years, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and its members have provided American families with the variety of sustainable seafood essential to a healthy diet. For more information visit: www.AboutSeafood.com.

                                                                                         ###