Engineering Ethics

82 Engineering Ethics: An Industrial Perspective

cleanup technology, as oil spills are difficult to clean and recovery

rates are low.

4. Some oil spills may be inevitable.This awareness makes it

imperative that we work harder to establish environmental

safeguards that reduce the risks associated with oil production and

transportation.

5. Legislation on liability and compensation is needed.

6. The United States should ratify the International Maritime

Organization 1984 Protocols. Expeditious ratification is essential to

ensure international agreement on responsibilities associated with

oil spills around the world.

7. Federal planning for oil spills must be improved.

8. Studies of the long-term environmental and health effects must be

undertaken expeditiously and carefully (Skinner, 1989).

L

AWSUITS

On February 27, 1990, a federal grand jury in Anchorage indicted Exxon

and its shipping subsidiary on five criminal counts. Two felony charges were

based on the 1972 Ports and Waterways Safety Act and the Dangerous Cargo

Act; three misdemeanors were based on the Clean Water Act, the Refuse Act,

and the Migratory Bird Act. A settlement among Alaska, the federal govern-

ment, and Exxon was reached in October 8, 1991. Exxon entered guilty pleas

for violating provisions of these acts, paid a fine of $150 million, and settled

damage claims of $900 million. Of the $150 million fine, $125 million was

forgiven to Exxon for the company’s previous expenses and cooperation, thus

bringing the total settlement to $1.025 billion (Keeble, 1999).

Additionally, on September 14, 1994, an Anchorage jury awarded

$5 billion in punitive damages to hundreds of members of a class law-

suit against Exxon. Exxon appealed to delay payments for a decade.

On January 24, 2004, federal judge Russell Holland directed ExxonMobil

to pay $4.5 billion in punitive damages and approximately $2.25 billion

in interest; Exxon is in the process of appealing this decision (DWT,

2004).

APPLICABLE REGULATIONS

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was prosecuted under general maritime law.

As a direct result of the oil spill, Congress enacted the Oil Pollution Act of

1990. This Act appears in Title 33, Chapter 40, of the United States Code

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1989: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 83

(U.S.C.). The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of

the general and permanent laws of the United States. Section 2702

(33U.S.C.§2702) of Chapter 40 is given below:

Title 33 Subchapter I—Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation

Sec. 2702—Elements of Liability

(a) In general

Notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law, and subject

to the provisions of this Act, each responsible party for a vessel

or a facility from which oil is discharged, or which poses the

substantial threat of a discharge of oil, into or upon the

navigable waters or adjoining shorelines or the exclusive

economic zone is liable for the removal costs and damages

specified in subsection (b) of this section that result from such

incident.

(b) Covered removal costs and damages

(1) Removal costs

The removal costs referred to in subsection (a) of this

section are—

(A) all removal costs incurred by the United States, a State,

or an Indian tribe under subsection (c), (d), (e), or (l)

of section 1321 of this title, under the Intervention on

the High Seas Act (33 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.), or under

State law; and

(B) any removal costs incurred by any person for acts taken

by the person which are consistent with the National

Contingency Plan.

(2) Damages

The damages referred to in subsection (a) of this section are

the following:

(A) Natural resources

Damages for injury to, destruction of, loss of, or loss of

use of, natural resources, including the reasonable costs

of assessing the damage, which shall be recoverable by

a United States trustee, a State trustee, an Indian tribe

trustee, or a foreign trustee.

(B) Real or personal property

Damages for injury to, or economic losses resulting from

destruction of, real or personal property, which shall be

recoverable by a claimant who owns or leases that

property.

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