Exxon is ordered to pay $6.75 billion, but few expect money soon

[truthisfreedom]

this must be one of those "junk" lawsuits bushco wants to eliminate...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/158525_exxonvaldez29.html

Thursday, January 29, 2004

Exxon is ordered to pay $6.75 billion, but few expect money soon

By MIKE LEWIS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Exxon Mobil Corp. must pay nearly $7 billion in damages to the fishermen and communities affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, a federal district judge in Alaska ruled yesterday.

The ruling, which ended the lawsuit's third trip through the federal trial court, eventually could mean millions of dollars for Washington fishermen who worked in the waters of Prince William Sound and near Kodiak, Alaska. However, Exxon twice has successfully appealed the case. Yesterday, its attorneys vowed to appeal again.

This is why Molly Mulvaney isn't yet counting her money. Now a lawyer living in Port Townsend, Mulvaney, 37, worked on black cod, salmon and halibut boats in Alaska from 1983 to 1993. Like thousands of other deckhands, captains and crew members, she lost months of work after the spill.

"At first, I was elated when I heard" about the ruling, she said. But when she realized Exxon planned another appeal, her joy dissipated immediately.

"That is a bit disheartening," she said, noting that the oil spill happened 15 years ago. "I'm an attorney so I know these things take time. But it's been going on and on."

In his 81-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Russel Holland said Exxon must pay $4.5 billion in punitive damages and $2.25 billion in interest. In all, 32,000 people have claims in the class-action lawsuit, including entire small coastal communities, business owners and Alaska natives.

[POed_Ex_Repub]

1. If the shrub steals another one... this will dissapear

15 years? At this rate the interest will be larger than the damages.