Exxon won't sweat Valdez settlement

Profits for 2007

ExxonMobile beat its own record for the highest profits ever recorded by any company, with net income rising 3 percent to $40.6 billion, thanks to surging oil prices. The company’s sales, more than $404 billion, exceeded the gross domestic product of 120 countries. (NY Times, Feb 1, 2008)

One of 38,000 Alaskans impacted by the oil spill

The 11 million gallons of crude oil from the tanker destroyed the herring population and Mr. Wills’s fishing career, so he borrowed money to open a bookshop, a cafe and the Mermaid Bed and Breakfast in downtown Homer, Alaska.

Mr. Wills had expected to use his $85,000 share of the $2.5 billion punitive damage settlement against Exxon to pay off some of his debts. The United States Supreme Court decision on Wednesday cutting the damages to around $500 million means Mr. Wills will receive only $15,000, he said.

“After everything we’ve been through, that’s barely enough to cover payroll for a month,” he said. “This is a knife in the gut.” (NY Times, June 25, 2008)

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Photo: This sea lion soaked with oil may not have survived the oil spill.
Note: Since 2006, thousands of Singapore residents have turned to Jotman for information about the latest accidents at the ExxonMobile refineries located offshore (local Singapore newspapers can be slow to report such incidents. Moreover, Singapore law forbids environmental NGOs.)