Oil spill checks get solemn reception

JOY LANDALUCE

December 19, 2008 at 11:03AM AKST

Almost 20 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, commercial fishermen and other plaintiffs are beginning to receive small settlement checks.

Fisherman R.J. Kopchak said it is sad that the financial and legal resolution of the oil spill with commercial fishing families does not close the book.

“The checks mean that there is closure for many who were directly impacted by the spill, but the settlement does not close the book on recovering from the aftermath and lingering legacy of damages from Americas worst act of pollution,” he said. “Still listed as not recovering from the Exxon oil spill are Pacific herring, and for herring fishermen the settlement checks represent less that 10 percent of the value of the lost fisheries. There are still significant quantities of highly poisonous Exxon oil just under the gravel of many beaches in western Prince William Sound.”

According to Exxon Qualified Settlement Fund’s Web site — www.exspill.com — those claimants who have already signed up to receive funds by direct deposit should have received their settlements by last Friday. The settlement fund was established by the court to distribute money to plaintiffs, and is overseen by attorney Lynn Lincoln Sarko, of the Seattle law firm Keller Rohrback.

The first round of distribution was to be completed on Monday, Sarko said.

About one-quarter of the claimants have already applied to participate in the direct deposit program, the Web site said.

“Claimants who are listed in our Oct. 31 application to Judge Holland now have an accurate estimate of the amount they will soon receive, and will be able to do appropriate year-end financial and tax planning,” Sarko said on the Web site.

After subtracting a court-authorized lawyers’ fee of 22.4 percent, claimants should receive 77.6 percent of the gross amounts that are listed in court documents. Efforts will be made in early 2009 to distribute punitive damages money to claimants in the 13 categories who have active liens, and to claimants in the remaining 39 claim categories.

“We tried to distribute as much money as possible to the largest number of claimants in 2008,” Sarko said. “We are very pleased that Judge Holland has authorized us to begin the punitive damage distributions. We understand that many claimants are in desperate need of these funds in these difficult economic times.”

The documents listing the gross distribution amounts for each claimant can be viewed at www.exspill.com.

The only good news about the delay in payments is that it postponed investments in retirement accounts, which have suffered significant losses in the collapse of the stock market, Kopchak said.

“My advice to those receiving checks — keep it as cash in tax deferred retirement accounts, and invest cautiously during this time of unstable world economies,” Kopchak said.  “Or buy herring fishing permits in Prince William Sound. I have two I could sell you.”

Or maybe not, said Nancy Bird, president of the Prince William Sound Science Center.

“The Pacific herring population in Prince William Sound is still depressed to the point that it remains unclear whether it will rebound to harvestable levels,” Bird said.

Bird said it will take a concerted and longer-term research program to understand the habitat and oceanographic conditions that benefit herring.

Cordova District Fishermen United president Gerald McCune is glad that the punitive damages portion is over.

“We need to lobby Congress to change laws to increase corporate responsibility. This is simply a slap on the wrist for Exxon,” McCune said.

Longtime Cordova fisherman Steve Smith says that the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill was a monumental event that has not only had a damaging effect on our environment and on the local, fish-based economy, but it has scarred the concept of American justice.

“The long-delayed movement of this case seems highly suspicious,” he said. “The appeals court cut the punitive damages in half, but even worse, it lingered at that level while they played judicial ping-pong. As bad as that was, it paled in comparison to the unbelievable decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which cut the amount down to 10 cents on the dollar. By their decree they inferred it is not important to protect our oceans and our environment, nor is it important to compensate people for their losses while the corporation racks up billions in profits.

“I no longer believe in Santa Claus, nor justice for all in our country. It is a sad day to be an American.”

Joy Landaluce can be reached at 907-424-7181.

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