Legislature(1999 - 2000)
03/22/2000 01:20 PM House RES
| Audio | Topic |
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
March 22, 2000
1:20 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Bill Hudson, Co-Chair
Representative Beverly Masek, Co-Chair
Representative John Harris
Representative Carl Morgan
Representative Ramona Barnes
Representative Jim Whitaker
Representative Reggie Joule
Representative Mary Kapsner
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative John Cowdery, Vice Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 194(RES)
"An Act relating to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve."
- MOVED CSSB 194(RES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
HOUSE BILL NO. 238
"An Act establishing a federal tax obligation loan program under
the commercial fishing loan program."
- MOVED HB 238 OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 18(RLS)
Requesting Exxon Corporation to pay claimants for court-ordered
damages resulting from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
- MOVED HCS CSSJR 18(O&G) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: SB 194
SHORT TITLE: CHILKAT BALD EAGLE PRESERVE
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
1/14/00 1977 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
1/14/00 1977 (S) RES
2/18/00 (S) RES AT 3:00 PM BUTROVICH 205
2/18/00 (S) Moved CS(Res) Out of Committee
2/18/00 (S) MINUTE(RES)
2/22/00 (S) RLS AT 12:00 PM FAHRENKAMP 203
2/22/00 (S) MINUTE(RLS)
2/22/00 2377 (S) RES RPT CS 6DP SAME TITLE
2/22/00 2377 (S) DP: HALFORD, GREEN, PARNELL, MACKIE
2/22/00 2377 (S) LINCOLN, PETE KELLY
2/22/00 2378 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (DNR)
2/24/00 2407 (S) RLS TO CALENDAR AND 1 OR 02/24/00
2/24/00 2407 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME
2/24/00 2408 (S) RES CS ADOPTED UNAN CONSENT
2/24/00 2408 (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
UNAN CONSENT
2/24/00 2408 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB 194(RES)
2/24/00 2408 (S) PASSED Y20 N-
2/24/00 2414 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
2/25/00 2298 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
2/25/00 2298 (H) RES
2/25/00 2298 (H) REFERRED TO RESOURCES
3/22/00 (H) RES AT 1:15 PM CAPITOL 124
BILL: HB 238
SHORT TITLE: TAX OBLIGATION LOAN PROGRAM FOR FISHERS
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
5/14/99 1409 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
5/14/99 1409 (H) FSH, RES, FIN
2/07/00 (H) FSH AT 5:00 PM CAPITOL 124
2/07/00 (H) Moved Out of Committee
2/07/00 (H) MINUTE(FSH)
2/09/00 2143 (H) FSH RPT 6DP
2/09/00 2143 (H) DP: HUDSON, WHITAKER, DYSON, SMALLEY,
2/09/00 2143 (H) KAPSNER, HARRIS
2/09/00 2143 (H) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (DCED)
2/09/00 2143 (H) REFERRED TO RESOURCES
3/17/00 (H) RES AT 1:30 PM CAPITOL 124
3/17/00 (H) Scheduled But Not Heard
3/22/00 (H) RES AT 1:15 PM CAPITOL 124
BILL: SJR 18
SHORT TITLE: EXXON VALDEZ DAMAGE CLAIMS
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
3/24/99 662 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
4/07/99 (S) JUD AT 1:30 PM BELTZ 211
4/07/99 (S) MOVED OUT OF COMMITTEE
4/07/99 (S) MINUTE(JUD)
4/28/99 (S) RES AT 3:00 PM BUTROVICH 205
4/28/99 (S) FAILED TO MOVE OUT OF COMMITTEE
4/28/99 (S) MINUTE(RES)
5/07/99 (S) MINUTE(RES)
5/11/99 (S) RLS AT 12:00 PM FAHRENKAMP 203
5/15/99 (S) RLS AT 1:30 PM FAHRENKAMP 203
5/16/99 (S) RLS AT 4:30 PM FAHRENKAMP 203
5/16/99 (S) MINUTE(RLS)
5/19/99 662 (S) O&G, RES, JUD
4/09/99 843 (S) JUD RPT 4DP
4/09/99 843 (S) DP: TAYLOR, ELLIS, TORGERSON, DONLEY
4/09/99 843 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (S.JUD)
5/10/99 1322 (S) RES RPT 3DP 1NR
5/10/99 1322 (S) NR: HALFORD; DP: MACKIE, LINCOLN,
TAYLOR
5/10/99 1322 (S) PREVIOUS ZERO FN (S.JUD)
5/16/99 1514 (S) RLS RPT CS 3CALENDAR 1DNP 1OR
5/16/99 1515 (S) RULES TO CALENDAR 5/16/99
5/16/99 1522 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME
5/16/99 1523 (S) RLS CS ADOPTED UNAN CONSENT
5/16/99 1523 (S) HELD IN SECOND READING TO
5/17 CALENDAR
5/17/99 1585 (S) TAKEN UP IN SECOND READING
5/17/99 1586 (S) RETURN TO RULES CMTE MOTION FLD
Y7 N13
5/17/99 1586 (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING FLD Y13 N7
5/17/99 1586 (S) THIRD READING 5/18 CALENDAR
5/18/99 1645 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSJR 18(RLS)
5/18/99 1645 (S) PASSED Y14 N6
5/18/99 1646 (S) GREEN NOTICE OF RECONSIDERATION
5/19/99 1689 (S) RECON TAKEN UP - IN THIRD READING
5/19/99 1689 (S) PASSED ON RECONSIDERATION Y16 N4
5/19/99 1715 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
1/10/00 1878 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
1/10/00 1879 (H) O&G, RES, JUD
1/10/00 1896 (H) CROSS SPONSOR(S): KERTTULA
2/24/00 (H) O&G AT 10:00 AM CAPITOL 17
2/24/00 (H) Failed To Move Out Of Committee
2/24/00 (H) MINUTE(O&G)
2/25/00 2315 (H) CROSS SPONSOR(S): SMALLEY
2/29/00 (H) MINUTE(WTR)
3/02/00 (H) O&G AT 10:00 AM CAPITOL 17
3/02/00 (H) Moved HCS CSSJR 18(O&G)
Out of Committee
3/02/00 (H) MINUTE(O&G)
3/03/00 2395 (H) O&G RPT HCS(O&G) NT 3DP 1DNP 3NR
3/03/00 2395 (H) TECHNICAL TITLE CHANGE
3/03/00 2395 (H) DP: SMALLEY, KEMPLEN, HARRIS;
3/03/00 2395 (H) DNP: PORTER; NR: PHILLIPS, WHITAKER,
3/03/00 2395 (H) DYSON
3/03/00 2395 (H) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (H.O&G)
3/03/00 2395 (H) REFERRED TO RESOURCES
3/22/00 (H) RES AT 1:15 PM CAPITOL 124
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR JERRY MACKIE
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 427
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor of SB 194.
CAROL CARROLL, Director
Division of Support Services
Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
400 Willoughby Avenue, Fifth Floor
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1724
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SB 194.
REPRESENTATIVE MARY KAPSNER
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 424
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as sponsor of HB 238.
BRUCE TWOMLEY, Chairman
Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC)
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
8800 Glacier Highway, Suite 109
Juneau, Alaska 99801-8079
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of HB 238 and provided
information regarding the bill.
RON BARNES
8301 Rangeview, Number 1
Anchorage, Alaska 99504
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 238.
GREG WINEGAR, Loan Manager
Division of Investments
Department of Community & Economic Development
3032 Vintage Boulevard
P.O. Box 34159
Juneau, Alaska 99803-4159
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided information on HB 238.
PAUL FROST
P.O. Box 229
Togiak, Alaska 99678
POSITION STATEMENT: Asked questions regarding HB 238.
SENATOR GEORGIANNA LINCOLN
Alaska State Legislature
Capitol Building, Room 11
Juneau, Alaska 99801
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as the sponsor of SJR 18.
PATIENCE FAULKNER
P.O. Box 2574
Cordova, Alaska 99574
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18.
ROSS MULLINS
P.O. Box 436
Cordova, Alaska 99574
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18.
CHRIS BERNS
P.O. Box 26
Kodiak, Alaska 99615
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18.
LARRY MALLOY
104 Center Street, Number 200
Kodiak, Alaska 99615
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18.
BRUCE SCHACTLER
P.O. Box 2254
Kodiak, Alaska 99615
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18.
DAVID OESTING, Attorney at Law
Managing Partner
Davis Wright Tremaine
701 West 8th Avenue, Suite 800
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of SJR 18.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 00-23, SIDE A
Number 0001
CO-CHAIR HUDSON called the House Resources Standing Committee
meeting to order at 1:20 p.m. Members present at the call to
order were Representatives Hudson, Masek, Harris, Morgan, Barnes
and Kapsner. Representatives Joule and Whitaker arrived as the
meeting was in progress.
SB 194 - CHILKAT BALD EAGLE PRESERVE
Number 0131
CO-CHAIR HUDSON announced that the first order of business would
be CS for SENATE BILL NO. 194(RES), "An Act relating to the
Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve."
SENATOR JERRY MACKIE, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of SB
194, stated that SB 194 takes land out of a park. He explained
that when the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve was created there were
private land holdings around it, and there was basically a
surveying error that took place. He pointed out that SB 194
allows the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources to
replat the survey markers so that the private citizens can have
the land they rightfully own. He added that it is a very simple
and straightforward correction, and he knows of no controversy
surrounding the legislation.
CAROL CARROLL, Director, Division of Support Services, Department
of Natural Resources (DNR), stated that the department supports
the bill.
Number 0380
REPRESENTATIVE BARNES made a motion to move CSSB 194(RES) from
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
note; she asked for unanimous consent. There being no objection,
CSSB 194(RES) moved from the House Resources Standing Committee.
HB 238 - TAX OBLIGATION LOAN PROGRAM FOR FISHERS
Number 0426
CO-CHAIR HUDSON announced that the next order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 238, "An Act establishing a federal tax
obligation loan program under the commercial fishing loan
program."
REPRESENTATIVE MARY KAPSNER, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of
HB 238, stated that HB 238 was introduced as an effort to keep
Alaskan fishing permits in Alaska, to retain a high value on
those fishing permits and to preclude the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) from seizing permits from commercial permit holders
who have debt to the IRS. The bill provides low-interest loans
to fisherman who owe the IRS money in back taxes; it is a "one
time only deal." The bill is intended for people whose fishing
permits are the only things of value that they may own.
BRUCE TWOMLEY, Chairman, Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
(CFEC), stated that they have, for a long time, dealt with the
IRS on this issue. He explained that it is very easy for small-
business owners to get into trouble with the IRS. In the case of
fishermen, the state has made them especially vulnerable by
virtue of the limited entry permits that they need, which also
have a monetary value; those are big targets for a tax collector.
He explained that the state has also supplied a loan program to
help fisherman get access to credit, and HB 238 would allow the
program to also loan money so that fisherman could meet their tax
obligations.
MR. TWOMLEY noted that people doing outreach and helping
fisherman come into tax compliance have told them that it is a
critical element, because many people they are dealing with live
in isolation in Western Alaska and do not have the capacity to
respond to a notice from the IRS, especially if they do not have
any money and their permit is the only item of cash value. He
indicated that the program would give these people hope, and it
would not cost anything because the revolving loan fund is
already in place. He noted that the loans would be secured.
Number 0776
REPRESENTATIVE JOULE asked who the fisherman look to for help
when the IRS contacts them.
MR. TWOMLEY responded that it could be a very different
situation, depending on whether it happens in an urban setting or
a rural setting. He pointed out that there is a lot of help
available, and there have been some constructive efforts to do
outreach. He indicated that they currently have a constructive
relationship with the IRS, which has extended itself to try to do
outreach. The Alaska Business Development Center has also been
working to do that and to help people file taxes. He noted that
it is important to have the tool to put together an agreement
with the IRS, and an offer in compromise, and that is where the
loan program comes in.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER said she appreciates Representative
Joule's question. She explained that at one point the IRS was
looking at people in Western Alaska who were permit holders as
easy targets, because the IRS knew that there was not a lot of
legal representation in that area and people did not have easy
access to it.
CO-CHAIR HUDSON indicated he is glad to hear that they have a
better relationship with the IRS, because it was not always the
case.
MR. TWOMLEY pointed out that it is with the help of U.S. Senator
Ted Stevens; there are some new procedural protections in place.
He noted that the IRS currently is going through quite a bit of
turmoil, and it is uncertain what the change in administration in
Washington, D.C., will bring.
Number 0985
RON BARNES testified via teleconference from Anchorage. A
commercial fisherman from Western Alaska who has a commercial
fishing entry permit, he wondered if one needs a filed federal
income tax [form] or can just provide an income statement for the
loan process.
GREG WINEGAR, Loan Manager, Division of Investments, Department
of Community & Economic Development (DCED), answered that the
bill requires that the person has filed all of his/her returns
with the IRS; therefore, the Division of Investments would look
at those current filings.
MR. BARNES commented that based on Article VII, Section 12, of
the Constitution of the State of Alaska, he does not believe that
the constitutionality of taxing Natives has been settled yet,
"under the U.S. Constitution, because we are recognized as
foreign territory, and this is based on some research from a 1899
law review and then the recognition in the United Nations under
Article 73. And since those are not satisfied, then I think
those are questions that need to be dealt with."
CO-CHAIR HUDSON asked Mr. Barnes to send in his written
testimony.
Number 1274
PAUL FROST testified via teleconference from Anchorage. He
questioned whether the bill has provisions for borrowing money if
one loses one's permit due to a poor fishing season and is forced
to sell the permit to satisfy debt.
MR. WINEGAR answered that the existing commercial fishing program
would allow a person to apply for a loan for a permit.
REPRESENTATIVE BARNES explained that HB 238 has to do with IRS
foreclosures on permits.
REPRESENTATIVE KAPSNER pointed out that HB 238 amends the statute
so that a fisherman can repay tax obligations. However, if a
person owes money to a bank for a boat, the bill would not
address that; it is just for the IRS.
MR. FROST questioned the language on page 1, Section 1 of the
bill. [The committee explained to Mr. Frost that HB 238 is only
amending existing law and that only the underlined language is
new.]
REPRESENTATIVE JOULE made a motion to move HB 238 from committee
with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note; he
asked for unanimous consent. There being no objection, HB 238
moved from the House Resources Standing Committee.
SJR 18 - EXXON VALDEZ DAMAGE CLAIMS
Number 1936
CO-CHAIR HUDSON announced that the next order of business would
be CS for SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 18(RLS), requesting Exxon
Corporation to pay claimants for court-ordered damages resulting
from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
CO-CHAIR HUDSON called an at-ease at 2:50 p.m. and called the
meeting back to order at 2:55 p.m.
[The committee took up HCS CSSJR 18(O&G), version 1-LS0731\N.]
SENATOR GEORGIANNA LINCOLN, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of
SJR 18, explained the legislation. [Due to a recording
malfunction, some of this testimony was lost.] She told members:
As you know, over 40,000 claimants await payment while
Exxon [Mobile Corporation] has continued to file
motions and other legal actions to delay payment. The
latest appeal of the federal district court's denial of
Exxon's second motion for a new trial was heard in the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle on May 3,
1999. This past week the Ninth Circuit ruled against
Exxon Mobile [Corporation] on one of the three parts of
their appeal. We're awaiting a decision on the other
two parts of that appeal.
The resolution [SJR] 18 urges - and I have to
underscore that word - it urges Exxon Mobile
Corporation to immediately pay the compensatory damages
awarded in the court-ordered judgment of 50 million
dollars. And as you will read in the letter that was
sent on March 16, ... it was $20 million and now, with
the interest, it's $50 million.
While following the spill Exxon payed a limited group
of fisherman and processors for some of the damages
prior to the judgment in the pending federal suit,
those payments were less than the compensatory damages
... later awarded in the federal court. The Exxon
appeal at the Ninth Circuit is of both, as you know -
the compensatory and punitive damages - with the 40,000
litigants who are entitled to payments from Exxon
Mobile [Corporation] including the commercial
fishermen, the fish processors, cannery workers,
residents of communities who depended on the
subsistence resource from the area, and many local
governments from Prince William Sound, the Cook Inlet
and Kodiak Island, the tourism and other business
operations, as well as the many real property owners in
the core spill area.
... To date, a very large group of others who were
impacted have received absolutely no compensation from
this devastating spill that occurred and, Mr. Chairman,
I worked on that oil spill for months and am acutely
familiar with the damages that did occur, and every day
going out there to mop up the oil on the water and oil
on the shoreline, and steaming those rocks, and then
going back 11 years later - or near 11 years - and
seeing still ... what I call the dead shoreline. I
mean, it is just so sterile. ...
I recognize the rights of individuals and corporations
to use our judicial system. I know that that's what
the judicial system is there for; however, there is the
issue of corporate responsibility and doing what's
right for Alaska and for our citizens. Those who have
waited over six years for payment of any money from
Exxon do not think that Exxon is doing its part to make
Alaska whole again, like they promised after the spill.
While the level of damages was paid to a very limited
class of persons and businesses following the spill, a
very large majority of those affected by the spill have
not received any payment from Exxon.
A letter, which I alluded to, is in your packet and
explains how the judge in the original trial
interpreted the maritime law to limit those entitled to
compensatory damages to a rather limited class of those
who are impacted by this bill. Again, I will say that
this resolution urges - urges - Exxon to pay the level
of compensatory claims ordered by the court, to pay
that immediately, and if the remaining portions of
Exxon's appeals are also denied by the Ninth Circuit,
then to pay those punitive damages without further
delay ... .
Number 2418
PATIENCE FAULKNER testified via teleconference from Cordova. She
indicated that she is an Alaska Native and lifetime Cordova
resident. She stated:
... I feel the most important thing that has happened
to the Cordova community and to the Native Village of
Eyak has been that it's very expensive to continue to
live here. Now, granted, this is our birthplace and
we've been here many, many years. But when we're an
economy that depends on money to survive, it's pretty
hard to just go out there and sit in a tree and live.
In the fishing industry, which we depend on in this
area, one-third of the fishing vessels did not go
salmon fishing. These are the seiners, of course, ...
the larger vessels; they employ three to five people.
They also each have families. For the last, I'd say,
five or six years, ... only one-third of the vessels
have gone fishing.
We also have herring that was closed this year in
October. It's been closed for so many years I don't
even know what a herring looks like. Also impacted
were the salmon fisheries. The salmon fisheries,
especially the setnetters over on Western side, they
haven't fished. They don't even get their gear ready
to go, because they're told that their areas are not
producing any salmon at all.
... The fishermen are impacted; that hits their crews
and their families very hard. Then the cannery workers
... have no fish to process. Local businesses suffer
because there are no funds to keep the community
moving, and then the general community suffers. We
have people that end up leaving town or taking what
limited resources out of this community, which makes it
more expensive for those who stay here.
On the subsistence side, for me as an Alaska Native,
our resources are dwindling, and then whatever we
manage to get, they're tainted. We're not sure if
they're good to eat. They have a lot strange things
that happen to them. Maybe the herring that do come
back will have an extra head or they won't spawn
correctly, and the places that they spawn, for
instance, like herring roe on kelp, it doesn't taste
very good - too much something in the water.
Exxon promised us in 1989 that they would make us
whole. Well, we are ... going to be in such a
financial hole and such a spiritual hole that we will
never be able to dig out. We are dying off. I think
Senator Lincoln expressed it in her papers. We're
dying off, and many of our people are dying, and they
are not going with a peace of mind. That has been the
most important thing, is that twelve seasons we are
into, in about two days. We have no relief. We'd like
to have you tell Exxon, "Pay off." Please, make us a
little bit better. Thank you.
Number 2594
ROSS MULLINS testified via teleconference from Cordova. He
indicated that he has lived in Cordova for about 39 years and has
participated in the commercial fishery all of those years. He
stated:
I would like to applaud Senator Lincoln's sponsorship
of this bill because, in my opinion, I think it could
go a long way to help instill goodwill among those that
have been injured by the oil spill and our political
representatives. I think back to the early '70s when
Cordova District Fisherman United brought a lawsuit
against issuing the permit for a terminus in Valdez,
our concern being that a massive spill might impact our
environment and impinge our ability to earn a living.
Well, those fears were realized in 1989.
And, of course, had the pipeline gone through Canada -
as we were urging, as were a few of the political
pundits of the day - we might not be in the condition
we're in today. But we were promised, of course, by
federal and state representatives that we would be
taken care of: this would be the safest terminus and
most scrutinized operation in the history of the world
.... I remember Ted Stevens saying when we were in his
office in Washington, [D.C.], "Not one drop of oil is
going to touch the waters of Prince William Sound."
Well, gentlemen, you know where we are today, and you
know what's happened.
To change my approach here a little bit from the last
testimony I gave before the [House Special Committee
on] Oil & Gas ..., I'd like to read a few items from
the transcript of the oral arguments that were
presented in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals in Seattle, Washington, on May 3, 1999 - might
give you a sense of how Exxon is attempting to utilize
the state to escape its responsibility in paying the
punitive and compensatory damages that they have
incurred at the result of the jury.
I will quote, this is Exxon's attorney, Dom (ph),
speaking: "Long before this verdict society had
already spoken, through its authorized representatives,
the Attorney General of the United States and the
Attorney General of Alaska, and had defined the proper
punishment necessary to vindicate society's interest."
They recommended, and the district court opposed, the
largest fines of an environmental matter in history.
Judge Kleinfeld, who is a member of the Ninth Circuit,
hearing this case, spoke up, and he said: "Yes, I
understand the language of that. It said compensatory
and remedial. That quote, 'compensatory and remedial,'
could you show me the page and the excerpt to show ...
that it also intended to apply to punitive damages?"
Exxon's Dom (ph): "The consent decree by its terms
does not speak of punitive damages, but it required the
State of Alaska to dismiss with prejudice its
complaints, and that complaint had sought all the
punitive damages to which the State of Alaska was
entitled, parens patriae, ... as public trustee and on
every other basis."
Kleinfeld: "So, the consent decree doesn't take
punitive damages, but the complaint did?"
Dom (ph): "Correct."
Exxon goes on at length to try to make the argument
that by the state releasing it from punitive damages,
by the payment of the $900 million, that that, in fact,
relieved Exxon of any burden to pay punitive damages to
any other plaintiffs, because the state acted in their
behalf. Now, gentlemen, I ask you if that is, in fact,
your intent? I think it's obvious the ploy Exxon is
using here. They're trying to get out ... from under
the responsibility to, as Don Cornett (ph) - who spoke
here in 1989, three days after the spill said to a
packed auditorium of concerned Cordova citizens - ...
said, "Exxon will make you whole. If your nets don't
fill up with fish, we'll take care of it."
Well, we know how they've taken care of it. ...
Patience was being charitable when she said one-third
of the fleet is not fishing in the purse seine fishery.
It is one-half the fleet. There's 272 permits issued,
and prior to the spill in 1989, all 270 - plus or minus
two or three - would be fishing every season. You can
look at the historical record. Today, if you have 120
to 135 out there, that's about it, and those guys are
barely able to make a living.
I can't say that every factor is directly a result of
Exxon's actions, but there have been scientific studies
that have come forward, just within the last couple of
years, that show there's long-term, low-level damages
ongoing in Prince William Sound, and that (indisc.)
parts per billion, the oil in the sediments, of having
a direct impact on pink salmon and herring resources.
These are studies done by the National [Oceanic and
Atmospheric] Administration, not really subject to
being construed as biased.
So I think if the state could get behind this
resolution that [Senator Lincoln] and others are
sponsoring, it would go a long way to create a goodwill
among the [population]. I mean, we are talking about
40,000 plaintiffs that are still waiting to be made
whole from Exxon's promise and, you know, many of them
are dying off. There's over 500 estates that are party
to the litigation.
All that this resolution urges is that you get behind
it, and if the court of appeals comes down with a
ruling that Exxon's argument is not supported in the
law, then urge them to pay up rather than seek further
appeals. I mean, Exxon is a master of delay. I heard
several of their attorneys referred to as "Doctor
Delay." I mean, it's the name of the game for those
people. Every year they delay is another few billion
they can sock away. I mean, I just feel this has
gotten -- 11 years now since the event, six years since
the litigation.
It's time to bring an end to it. And if they lose at
the court of appeals level - and they did lose the one
issue on jury improprieties that caused an additional
year delay - if the question of punitive damages is
resolved in the plaintiff's benefit, I urge you
gentlemen to have the State of Alaska at least stand
behind its citizens and ask for Exxon to do the
responsible thing and pay what they are obligated to
pay by law. Thank you very much.
TAPE 00-23, SIDE B
Number 2925
CHRIS BERNS testified via teleconference from Kodiak. He
indicated that he supports the resolution. He stressed that
40,000 Alaskan residents will benefit.
Number 2871
LARRY MALLOY testified via teleconference from Kodiak. He stated
that he is representing the Aquaculture Association in Kodiak and
supports the resolution.
BRUCE SCHACTLER testified via teleconference from Kodiak. He
stated that he supports the resolution. He indicated that not
only are there 40,000 residents who are actual claimants, but
that could be multiplied by four or five because of all the
communities that also are claimants.
DAVID OESTING, Attorney at Law, Managing Partner, Davis Wright
Tremaine, testified via teleconference. He indicated that he is
the court-appointed lead counsel for all 40,000 claimants. He
said that as an advocate and Alaskan citizen he strongly urges
the passage of the resolution. He thanked Senator Lincoln for
her stellar efforts because he believes that the message needs to
be sent to Exxon.
CO-CHAIR HUDSON closed public testimony on SJR 18.
Number 2737
REPRESENTATIVE HARRIS made a motion to move HCS CSSJR 18(O&G) out
of committee with individual recommendations and zero fiscal
note. There being no objection, HCS CSSJR 18(O&G) moved from the
House Resources Standing Committee.
ADJOURNMENT
Number 2693
CO-CHAIR HUDSON adjourned the House Resources Standing Committee
meeting at 2:25 p.m.
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