Environmental group urges halt to Exxon-Mobil merger
Wed March 24, 1999
RICHARD PYLE
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) Exxon's refusal to pay a $5 billion judgment and its "arrogance" in dealing with the Exxon Valdez disaster should be grounds for barring its proposed merger with the Mobil Corp., an environmental group said Wednesday.
Speakers at a news conference marking the 10th anniversary of the worst oil spill in U.S. history also accused the federal government of failing to enforce legal provisions for double-hulled tankers, escort tugs and other safety measures in ocean-going oil tankers.
All are required by the Oil Protection Act, passed in 1990 after the March 24, 1989, disaster that occurred when the fully loaded tanker Exxon Valdez hit a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound. The 11 million gallons of spilled crude polluted 1,300 miles of coastline, ravaging wildlife and destroying the area's thriving fishing industry.
"There will be other Exxon Valdez-type spills unless these lessons are learned," said Sarah Chasis, a National Resources Defense Council expert on coastal waters. "Painfully little has been done in the past 10 years by the federal government."
Rick Steiner, a marine biology professor at the University of Alaska, said that among the area's 24 bird and animal species, only bald eagles and river otters have recovered. The shoreline is still polluted, despite a massive cleanup paid for by Exxon.
"Prince William Sound was a paradise. Now it's a paradise lost," Steiner said.
Al Kapp, 45, who began salmon fishing at age 14, said his once-successful business has never recovered. The salmon fleet that once had 250 boats is now down to 90, he said.
Patricia Anderson Faulkner, a resident of the native village of Eyak, said many people's livelihood were devastated, first by the oil spill and then by Exxon's refusal to pay compensation ordered by a federal jury in 1994.
The speakers accused Exxon of bad faith by its lengthy appeal of the 1994 verdict awarding $5 billion in punitive damages.
"You cannot find another corporation on the planet that is more arrogant than Exxon," said Brian O'Neill, the lead attorney in the lawsuit against Exxon.
Several speakers said Exxon's conduct should be enough to block the proposed merger with Mobil, which would give the corporation more power and influence.
The proposed merger is currently under review by U.S. government agencies and governments in other countries that would be affected.
"Exxon is the only element of this equation that grows stronger every day. Everything else grows weaker. And now they are asking to become even stronger. This Exxon-Mobil merger should not happen," said actor and activist Alec Baldwin, who was invited by the NRDC to moderate the news conference.
He said Exxon has done nothing to upgrade its tanker fleet, and at one point planned to return the Exxon Valdez to duty in Prince William Sound.
"That's like putting the Enola Gay at Japanese Disneyland," Baldwin said.
Exxon said in a statement it had paid $300 million in voluntary compensation to victims of the spill and was exercising a "fundamental right" of Americans in appealing the $5 billion in punitive damages, which it considers "unjust and excessive."
"The Exxon-Mobil merger is a completely separate and totally unrelated item," it said.
Copyright © 1999 Associated Press