ExxonMobil Billed an Additional $92 million for EXXON VALDEZ Cleanup

Published Sep 7, 2006 12:01 AM by The Maritime Executive

ExxonMobil Corporation has been billed another $92 million by State and federal authorities on Thursday to pay for additional cleanup costs related to the 1989 Exxon Valdez grounding and oil spill that occurred in 1989. Government official say that the residual effects of the spill in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska are ample reason to invoke the “reopener” clause in the $900 million settlement reached in 1991 with the oil giant. The “reopener” provision allows a request for up to $100 million more in cleanup money, provided that the government can prove that the environment and wildlife were still suffering spill-related issues, unforeseen when the settlement was signed.

In response to this latest government action, Exxon points to hundreds of studies that show no lingering damages in the area and has disputed the government’s findings. But, in addition to the demand for the additional money, state and federal agencies also sent Texas-based Exxon a detailed budget plan for finding and cleaning up the remainder of the oil they say remains from the 11-million gallon spill.