Fishermen of Cordova who joined the civil suit against Exxon conceded they didn’t expect much different from the U.S. Supreme Court, which cut a lower court award of $2.5 billion in punitive damages to $507.5 million. They faced a gray and rainy day with a stark sense of loss in Exxon Valdez oil spill case. Terry Buchholz, 60, a lifelong commercial gillnetter, said had the lower court judgment held up he was in line to collect $900,000. Now, he said, he expects to receive a small fraction of that.
Rikki Ott, a Cordova marine biologist and longtime Exxon critic, said she was hoping the court would go the other way, uphold a big judgment. Now she believes Congress must interfere to trump the high court and make corporations liable for stiffer punitive damage penalties. She also added that the Congress should be retroactive to include the Exxon Valdez case.
Cordova is home port for hundreds of commercial fishermen who work throughout the Prince William Sound. For the first time in their history they witness a major oil spill when a tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh reef in 1989, spilling about 11 million gallons of oil. And all the years the people have waited for the favourable verdict but the recent decision only gave them shock and pain.
Cordova Mayor Tim Joyce, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Forest Service, said that the court has allowed at least some punitive damages in a maritime case. That’s good for the future. He believes the ruling will have profound effects on some residents in Cordova, especially those who didn’t just want the money but needed it.
