EVOS Plaintiffs Await Word On Interest Issue

Jay Barrett/KMXT

Last week lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill punitive damages case filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking clarification on the question of interest payments on the judgment against Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Andrew Ott, a plaintiffs’ attorney in Kodak, said the high court will issue an order on the decision in about two weeks, which should clarify how the case is to proceed:

— (EVOS 1 July 14 37 sec “… district court here in Anchorage.”)

Ott says he and others in the case are puzzled why the Supreme Court chose to remand the case back to the lower courts instead of making a final, definitive decision.

— (EVOS 2 July 14 17 sec “… the order we get from the Supreme Court.”)

One of the questions the high court left unanswered in its opinion is that of interest payments, which would be about 488-million dollars.

— (EVOS 3 July 14 23 sec “… litigate that issue.”)

And, Ott says, there’s every chance Exxon will try to have the judgment reduced even further by having its loan payments for the 5-billion-dollars it set aside subtracted from the total.

— (EVOS 4 July 14 41 sec “… we expect Exxon to fully litigate.”)

If Exxon does that, Ott says the state should be cautious about working with them on future projects:

— (EVOS 5 July 14 14 sec “… statement from my end than anything else.”)

He says he doesn’t think the waiting game will take much longer, and says he hopes finality will come in three to four months.

###