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WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A lawyer for Exxon Mobil told the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday it should not have to pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages for the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.
A state jury set the damages at trial 13 years ago after 11 million gallons of crude oil poured from the ruptured Exxon Valdez tanker into the Prince William Sound in 1989, wrecking the local economy and killing wildlife.
Walter Dellinger, Exxon's lawyer and former U.S. solicitor general, said the company has already spent $3.4 billion to clean up the spill and compensate victims, The Baltimore Sun reported.
The plaintiffs' lawyer, Stanford professor Jeffrey Fisher, said the high damage award would act as a deterrent.
Justice Samuel Alito has withdrawn from the case, leaving at least the possibility of a 4-4 tie, Scotusblog.com reported. That would mean a federal appeals court ruling allowing punitive damages would stand.
Though Alito has recused himself without comment, he owns Exxon stock.
The high court in the past has limited punitive damage awards to a ratio of compensatory damage awards, always less than 10 to 1.
(No. 07-219, Exxon vs. Baker)
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