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A thorough understanding in earth sciences is vitally important to many modern businesses, especially those involvedin oil production or transportation, industrial manufacturing, or different industries which release waste or by products into the surrounding environmentor water. The fact that very large punitive legal damages have been imposed by courts to huge corporations such as Mobil Exxon, Union Carbide, and Pacific Gas and Electric brings notice upon businesses which their very survival may well be related upon how their staff deal with earth science related issues In an effort to emphasize the much importance of the earth science studies to modern corporate businesses, an examination of the massive 1989 oil spill in Prince William Sound and how it affected Mobil Exxon would be of much use. The environmental damage was unprecedented, and initial public anger against the corporation was at very high levels, however Exxon managed to weather the storm and kept on continuing its operations, mainly because of the efforts of its own earth sciences people. The problems all began on March 24, 1989 at 4 minutes after midnight, when the enormous oil super tanker Exxon Valdez struck a reef hidden under the pristine surface of Alaska’s amazing Prince William Sound and began spilling massive amounts of crude oil into the sea. In the Alaskan darkness that spring night an environmental nightmare began that changed not only Prince William Sound itself, but the entire world, especially the business world. In the first weeks right after the disaster, upon the advice provided by their own earth sciences people, who understood all very well how much environmental damage might ensue, Mobil Exxon volunteered to spend whateverall the money was needed on cleanup efforts and assessments of environmental damages after the accident and before the settlement. Over two billion dollars was ultimately spent by Mobil Exxon on these efforts, and the company’s PR people spared no opportunity to publicize the amount being spent, and to repeatedly stress that it was voluntary, so the public would be aware of that fact and appreciate that Mobil Exxon was meeting its responsibilities to the public for the damage done to the environment. Despite these efforts, nothing could stop the flood of lawsuits which resulted from the spill. After anightmare thirty months of devastating negative publicity for Mobil Exxon, and extremely serious financial losses, a legal settlement agreement was finally reached on October 8, 1991 between the plaintiffs—the State of Alaska and the US government—and Mobil Exxonattorneys on both criminal charges and civil damage claims stemming from the incident. In settlement of civil charges, Mobil Exxonagreed to pay Alaska and the United States more then 900K Million USD over a 10 year period. This money would be used for environmental and wildlife restoration and would be administered by 6 government trustees; 3 of them federal appointees, and the other 3 state appointees. In settlement of criminal charges, it was agreed that Mobil Exxon would pay two-hundred and fifty million dollars. Two restitution funds of fifty million dollars each were found, one under state control and one under federal authority. Although there was much opposition from many Alaskans, 100 and twenty-five million dollars of the balance was forgiven due to Mobil Exxon’s cooperation during the cleanup, and because of the upgraded and highly-publicized safety procedures Mobil Exxon earth sciences staff had designed to prevent a reoccurrence. The remaining 50 million dollars was divided between the Victims of Crime Act account and the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund. But another huge setback was in store for Exxon. On September 16, 1994, an angry jury in a U.S Federal courtroom returned a stunning five billion dollar punitive damages verdict against the corporation. Mobil Exxon attorneys have fought this judgment in appeal after lengthy appeal over the last 7 years, and on November 7, 2001 won a major victory when United States Court of Appeals justices threw out the 1994 punitive damages verdict. But Mobil Exxon has suffered mightily since the Exxon Valdez went aground in Prince William Sound that fateful night in 1989, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the existence of the corporation has been at stake. Any business, no matter how large or small, is at the mercy of public approval, for it needs public approval to sell its products or services. And in Mobil Exxon’s case, public approval has been very much dependent upon what the corporation’s earth sciences people have been able to say and do to persuade the public that the environmental damage to the Alaskan coastline is nowhere near as bad as other earth scientists have claimed. In the 12 years since the oil spill, Mobil Exxon has relied heavily upon their own earth sciences personnel, and hired outside earth sciences experts in order to defend themselves against charges which they are liable for billions of dollars in environmental damage to the ecosystem of Prince William Sound.
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D.Asmar - is the author for Istanbul Property Management Organization’s info section. Please visit Istanbul Commercial Real Estate for additional information
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