00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 32                                                                                         
01 Requesting Exxon Corporation to pay claimants for damages resulting from the                                            
02 Exxon Valdez oil spill.                                                                                                 
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
04  WHEREAS, on March 24, 1989, at 12:04 a.m., the Exxon Valdez oil tanker grounded                                      
05 on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, resulting in the spill of 11,000,000 gallons of North                            
06 Slope crude oil along 1,300 miles of Alaska shoreline; following the spill, Exxon Corporation                           
07 officials pledged to make Alaska whole again; and                                                                       
08  WHEREAS the spill killed an estimated 250,000 birds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor                                    
09 seals, 250 bald eagles, killer whales, and many shoreline plants and animals, affected                                  
10 innumerable salmon and herring eggs, and caused long-term injury to the environment of                                  
11 Prince William Sound; and                                                                                               
12  WHEREAS, on September 16, 1994, an Alaska jury in the federal district court                                         
13 returned a $5,000,000,000 punitive damages verdict against Exxon Corporation to help                                    
14 compensate those affected by the spill; and                                                                             

01  WHEREAS, between 1994 and 1996, the federal district court denied numerous                                           
02 motions from Exxon Corporation to overturn or adjust the verdict, and the corporation                                   
03 continues to file motions to delay the case and escape payments to Alaskans; and                                        
04  WHEREAS, between 1996 and today, Exxon Corporation has appealed for, and has                                         
05 been denied, new trials; and                                                                                            
06  WHEREAS oral arguments begin this year on Exxon Corporation's appeal of the                                          
07 denial of its second motion for a new trial and, if this appeal is denied, the company may file                         
08 a petition for further review to the United States Supreme Court, possibly adding another year                          
09 to the litigation; and                                                                                                  
10  WHEREAS Exxon Corporation has prospered financially in the 10 years since the oil                                    
11 spill, and the company is preparing to merge with Mobil Corporation to create the largest                               
12 corporation in the world, with multi-billion dollar revenues each year; and                                             
13  WHEREAS, nearly five years after the jury verdict and a decade after the oil spill,                                  
14 40,000 claimants, including commercial fishermen, business owners, landowners, and Native                               
15 corporations are still waiting for the $5,000,000,000 in punitive damages; 500 claimants have                           
16 died between 1989 and 1999; and                                                                                         
17  WHEREAS most of the 40,000 claimants who are owed punitive damages are working                                       
18 men and women with families, homes, mortgages, businesses, and roots in Alaska and its                                  
19 future; and                                                                                                             
20  WHEREAS the petroleum industry plays an important role in providing revenue,                                         
21 employment, and economic stability for Alaska; and                                                                      
22  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature encourages development, through incentives                                      
23 and partnerships with the petroleum industry whenever possible; and                                                     
24  WHEREAS British Petroleum Amoco and Atlantic Richfield Corporation have created                                      
25 partnerships with, and invested in, responsible, environmentally sound resource development                             
26 and exploration, local and state governments, nonprofit organizations, and the growing trust                            
27 of the people of Alaska; and                                                                                            
28  WHEREAS, in order to foster partnerships between Exxon Corporation and the people                                    
29 of Alaska, Exxon Corporation should make good on its promise and pay its debt to the people                             
30 of Alaska as prescribed by the court.                                                                                   
31  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Exxon Corporation to                                      

01 cease its ongoing efforts to delay and avoid payment of the judgment, and to now pay all                                
02 claimants owed punitive damages as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.                                         
03  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                              
04 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President                            
05 of the U.S. Senate; Janet Reno, Attorney General of the United States; the Honorable J.                                 
06 Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Trent Lott,                                 
07 Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; Robert Pitofsky, Chairman of the Federal Trade                                      
08 Commission; William J. Baer, Director, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission;                                 
09 the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, the Honorable                               
10 Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and Lee R.                                
11 Raymond, President and Chief Executive Officer of Exxon Corporation.