Lee R. Raymond
Chairman and CEO
Exxon Corporation
225 East John Carpenter Freeway
Irving, TX 75062
Dear Mr. Raymond:
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred 10 years ago. We, the undersigned Attorneys General, urge the Exxon Corporation to end the protracted litigation over the spill and honor the unanimous judgment of the jury in the lawsuit that followed. Substantial volumes of crude oil are shipped by supertankers every day off the coasts of our nation. Major oil spills from supertankers seriously harm the marine environment and the local communities and individuals that depend on the sea for their livelihood.
In September 1994 a unanimous federal jury found Exxon Corporation liable for the Exxon Valdez oil spill and awarded damages of $5.3 billion to 40 thousand people injured by the spill, including Alaska native people, commercial fishermen, small business people, and land owners, as well as local governments and other entities injured by the spill. It has now been 10 years since the spill that devastated Prince William Sound and Exxon Corporation has not yet paid its debts to those who suffered from the spill.
Each year Exxon delays payment of its obligation it earns an estimated $400 million from the difference between the statutory interest rate on judgments of 6 percent and the company's internal rate of return of about 14%. The U.S. District Judge who heard the case clearly recognized: "Exxon can more profitably employ its capital elsewhere, even at the risk of paying great amounts of interest on the prospective judgment in this case. Put more simply, the court is concerned that delay in paying plaintiff's judgment will profit Exxon." In the meantime, each year many of the individuals who have been awaiting compensation die, and many continue to live in dire economic straits. Exxon must do the right thing and honor its obligations to the people its actions have injured.
Exxon's use of its economic strength to delay, and in many cases to deny, justice to the 40 thousand people it has injured by the Exxon Valdez spill raises a significant concern. As State Attorneys General we have limited jurisdiction to deal with such an abuse of the legal system. However, as our states' chief legal officers, we call upon the Exxon Corporation to acknowledge its corporate responsibility to the people, businesses, and communities affected by the spill by paying the federal jury verdict awarded five years ago.
Very truly yours
