Exxon Valdez payout to claimants doubled
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Exxon Mobil Corp. was ordered Monday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to pay about $500 million in interest on punitive damages for the Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, nearly doubling the payout to Alaska Natives, fishermen, business owners and others harmed by the 1989 disaster.
The decision would double the average payout of about $15,000 for the nearly 33,000 claimants.
In June 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court set punitive damages at $507 payday loan with bad credit.5 million. But two months later, the high court declined to decide whether Exxon Mobil must pay interest on the punitive damages awarded in the nation’s worst oil spill and instead sent it back to the appeals court.
Exxon could appeal the decision on the interest payments to the Supreme Court. An Exxon spokesman declined to comment on Monday.