negligent discharging of oil and was fired by Exxon.
Exxon was sued and in 1994 was found negligent by
a jury in Anchorage, Alaska. The company was or-
dered to pay $287 million in actual damages and $5
billion in punitive damages. (These damages were
later reduced to $2.5 billion by the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals in December, 2006.) Beyond these
financial damages, the spill was the ultimate public-
relations disaster for the corporation, which was vili-
fied for years for its perceived indifference to the
dangers posed to the environment by supertankers.
Subsequent Events Additional measures were un-
dertaken by the state and federal governments to ad-
dress the poor response to the spill. The U.S. Con-
gress passed the Oil Pollution Act in 1990, ordering
new prevention efforts, creating higher levels of
corporate liability, and establishing a response fund
for the federal government to prepare for future di-
sasters. Alaska’s legislature also responded quickly,
passing new laws in the year after the spill. These
laws increased the state’s oil-disaster response fund
and established measures to prevent future spills, as
well as new oversight processes. Increased penalties
for polluters were also instituted, along with the cre-
ation of a new state department specifically tasked
with overseeing oil spills in Alaska.
Further Reading
Bryan, Nichol.Exxon Valdez: Oil Spill.Milwaukee:
World Almanac Library, 2004. Youth reference
that includes excellent photos and timelines.
Keeble, John. Out of the Channel: The Exxon Valdez
Oil Spill in Prince William Sound.Cheney: Eastern
Washington University Press, 1999. Balanced ac-
count of the spill and clean-up efforts.
Owen, Bruce M., et al.The Economics of a Disaster: The
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.Westport, Conn.: Quorum
Books, 1995. Assesses the economic impact of the
spill.
Picou, J. Steven. Exxon Valdez Disaster. Dubuque,
Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1999. Investigates theExxon
Valdezdisaster and related problems connected to
corporate and governmental failures.
United States Congress. Senate Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transporation.Exxon Oil
Spill: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, Sci-
ence, and Transportation.Washington, D.C.: Govern-
ment Printing Office, 1989. Detailed investiga-
tion of the spill by the congressional committee.
Douglas A. PhillipsSee also Environmental movement; Water pollu-
tion.The Eighties in America Exxon Valdezoil spill 349