| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
13 Mar 2006 06:56:29 PM |
| Object: |
ExxonMobil can't afford to pay an 18 year old bill |
The plaintiffs, those who received any money at all, say the money
owed doesn't come close to what was lost.
Prince William Sound's herring fishery has never fully recovered,
former herring seiner Victor Smith said.
"They thought the system would repair itself in six years, and it
hasn't," said Smith, who now operates out of Friday Harbor
transporting freight.
He no longer fishes.
Part of the reason for the prolonged herring crash, Smith said, is
that oil settled in the seabed where the fish lay eggs.
So even where populations of mature herring survived, much of the next
generation didn't.
Fishery scientists estimate that less than 10 percent of the oil was
actually cleaned up or recovered.
Smith said most fishermen lost far more than what was paid to them,
and some have died while waiting for their share of the award.
Smith estimates that he lost more than $1 million in income in ensuing
years.
Does he expect to see any of that back?
Smith believes it's up to the federal judges' ability to withstand the
oil company's legal onslaught and political pressure.
"If (the judges) can overcome cubic dollars," he said.
"There seems to be a feeling that corporation rights have trumped the
rights of the people."
From The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 3/13/06:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/262707_exxonsettle13.html
Exxon still owes for Valdez spill
Despite profits, oil giant holds billions awarded to victims
By MIKE LEWIS
P-I REPORTER
In 11 days, it will be 18 years.
Long enough for children to have been born, grown and graduate from
high school, for boats to have been scrapped or replaced, for
marriages, divorces and career changes, and for a fair number of
fishermen to die in one of the many ways life and their chosen
occupation offer.
The odd thing is that the day itself -- March 24, 1989 -- has become
less momentous to many fishermen than the slow grind of the years that
followed.
On that date, the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince
William Sound and dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil.
Five years later, an Anchorage jury awarded the fishermen and affected
communities $5 billion in punitive damages.
Calculated on one year of the oil giant's profits, the class-action
award has yet to be paid as ExxonMobil fights it in federal court.
Now, with Exxon reaping even more -- $36 billion last year, a world
record for a single company -- and another spill anniversary looming
without a payment, the 32,000 fishermen, food processors and Alaska
natives who remain plaintiffs in the case are seething.
"You really try to forget about it most of the time," said Stewart
Deal, 52, a Seattle salmon fisherman.
"I've learned to put it out of my mind. But when we saw it (reports of
Exxon profits), it makes you angry."
Deal once fished out of Cordova on the edge of Prince William Sound.
He said the spill put the lucrative fishery "in a nose dive."
Buck Meloy agreed.
The 65-year-old gillnetter from Bellingham was fishing his F/V Aileen
in those waters when the Valdez wrecked.
Shortly afterward, the fishery crashed.
The federal government ruled the oil cleanup completed in 1992.
Since then, Meloy has watched his side both win and lose as the case
moved up and back down the court system.
Now at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and pending another
decision on the legality of such a massive punitive award, the
seemingly endless legal wrangling has left Meloy feeling as if he'll
never see another dime.
So he adjusted, mostly.
He lost thousands in income but continued fishing.
Attorneys have estimated that hundreds of Seattle fishermen could
receive millions of dollars if the award stands.
Deal and Meloy say they're owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Individual claims vary from a few thousand to a few million.
"You don't think about it every day -- you can't," Meloy said.
But then came the news of the record profits.
"It makes you mad all over again, but I can't say I was that
surprised," he said.
"Look at the prices of gas and the price of crude. This has been a
heyday for the oil companies."
ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and other oil companies came under
public and congressional criticism for padding their bottom lines
after Hurricane Katrina.
___________________________________________________________
An image of ExxonMobil pleading poverty. Sick, ain't it.
Harry
.
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| User: "ZenIsWhen" |
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| Title: Re: ExxonMobil can't afford to pay an 18 year old bill |
13 Mar 2006 09:36:41 PM |
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"Harry Hope" <rivrvu@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:h65c12lpmcrkg2acd968i230p5e9tirs2d@4ax.com...
ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and other oil companies came under
public and congressional criticism for padding their bottom lines
after Hurricane Katrina.
If I had those kinid of profits, you can criticize me all you want until
hell freezes over.
Problem is, NO ONE in the administration did anything other than whine and
moan.
___________________________________________________________
An image of ExxonMobil pleading poverty. Sick, ain't it.
Harry
.
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