News Release

January 29, 2008

Contact: Stan Jones, Director of External Affairs 907-273-6230 / jones@pwsrcac.org

Alaska citizens’ councils file friend-of-the-court brief in Exxon Valdez punitive damages case

The citizens’ councils for Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Exxon Valdez punitive damages case now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The councils, because of their mission to prevent oil spills like the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989, addressed only one of the many issues raised in the case.

That issue is Exxon’s argument that it should be immune from punitive damages because of a maritime law precedent arising from the 1814 Amiable Nancy case.

The two councils believe it is critical to preserve punitive damages as a deterrent to the kind of risky corporate behavior that led to the Exxon spill, which released over 11 million gallons of North Slope crude into Prince William Sound.  The oil fouled waters and beaches as far away as Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula, disrupting commercial fisheries, impeding subsistence food-gathering, killing sea otters and other wildlife, and inflicting painful socioeconomic damage on communities affected by the spill.

“If the threat of punitive damages is removed from the decision-making process in the executive suites of Exxon and corporations like it, they will have one less reason to behave responsibly,” said John Devens, executive director of the council for Prince William Sound. “The Supreme Court shouldn’t let that happen.”

The summary of the councils’ argument, taken from the brief, appears below. The brief is available for download in PDF format from the council website, www.pwsrcac.org.

The Cook Inlet Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council and the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council, who joined in filing today’s brief, were formed after the Exxon Valdez oil spill to improve the safety of marine crude-oil operations by providing citizen oversight. More information about the councils is available at their websites, www.pwsrcac.org and www.circac.org.

If you received this news release by fax, you can obtain it electronically by emailing a request to jones@pwsrcac.org.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

Nearly 19 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, its effects on Prince William Sound, Lower Cook Inlet, and the Kodiak Archipelago still are being felt. The oil spill did immeasurable damage to the region, its resources, and its inhabitants. The oil spill damaged the very social and economic fabric of the region, affecting people’s lives, their livelihood, recreational opportunities and subsistence. Although punitive damages cannot repair the socio-economic fabric of the region, they can help to protect it from future spills by deterring the conduct that led to the oil spill. In this brief, PWSRCAC and CIRCAC present their view that punitive damages are essential here as a means of deterring Exxon and other oil companies, by letting them know that the complacency and reckless behavior that led to the grounding of the Exxon Valdez and the most devastating oil spill in North America will not be tolerated. PWSRCAC and CIRCAC have a unique voice in this litigation, in part because they were born out of the Exxon Valdez oil spill itself and in part because they speak for the enduring interests of Prince William Sound, Cook Inlet, the Kodiak Archipelago and their inhabitants. Despite advances in vessel monitoring, marine safety and communications, and spill prevention, several recent incidents suggest that without the threat of punitive damages, the conduct that led to the Exxon Valdez oil spill and its result could occur again. The RCACs believe that punitive damages are necessary to deter Exxon and others from engaging in the conduct that led to the Exxon Valdez oil spill and could lead to future oil spills.