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Exxon’s Alaska Oil Spill Case Heads to High Court

by Elizabeth Arnold

On March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of heavy crude oil in the icy waters of Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Nineteen years later, Exxon and those affected by the disaster are still arguing over punitive damages, and the case is now before the Supreme Court. It will be heard in February.

Exxon has already paid out nearly $3.5 billion, but was the money wisely spent? Also, how did the spill, the money and the attention change the region?

Nearly two decades after the worst spill in U.S. history, has the Sound recovered?

NPR: All Things Considered, January 22, 2008

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