Supreme Court Slashes Exxon Valdez Penalty 80%

The Supreme Court rejected a record $2.5 billion punitive claim against Exxon Mobil over the Exxon Valdez spill nearly 20 years ago, ending a long chapter in the saga of the worst U.S. oil spill on record.

The 5-3 vote came without Justice Samuel Alito, a Bush appointee who owns an estimated $100,000-$250,000 in Exxon stock.

Instead of the $2.5 billion sought by fishermen, Alaskan natives, landowners and others whose lives and livelihoods were damaged by the oil spill, the Supreme Court said damages should be limited to $507.5 million in actual harm, according to Reuters, or about 20% of the claim approved by federal appeals court.

While the fishermen and others have had their lives put on hold for two decades (many plaintiffs have died awaiting this verdict), Exxon has merged with Mobil and continued to amass fortunes. The $2.5 billion rejected penalty amounts to about 6% of Exxon Mobil's earnings from 2007 alone. Instead it will pay about 1% of its 2007 earnings to make amends for the 19-year-old spill. Or, as Reuters put it: "It took Exxon Mobil just under two days to bring in $2.5 billion in revenue during the first quarter of 2007."

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