On Monday, Exxon Mobil Corporation made public that it will not challenge a court ruling to pay $470 million in interest to Alaska fishermen and businesses harmed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound.

The interest is based on a court ruling handed down by the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month, saying that Exxon has to pay $507.5 million in punitive damage to fishermen who lost their livelihood in the wake of the 11-million gallon oil spill. The court ruled June 15 that spill victims were owed interest at an annual rate of 5.9 percent that began accruing in 1996, when the original damage award against Exxon was completed.

Exxon said in a court filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco that it would pay the interest money July 1.

In the past, Exxon had vigorously fought the original amount of court ordered punitive damages. An Alaska jury awarded plaintiffs punitive awards in the amount of $5 billion. Exxon appealed until the Supreme Court last year found that punitive damages could not be more than $507.5 million. 

Story by Diana Haecker