Exxon Valdez oil spill Exxon should have told the jury at the start that an agreement had already been made, so the jury would know exactly how much Exxon would have to pay. As of December 15, 2009, Exxon had paid the entire $507.5 million in punitive damages, including lawsuit costs, plus interest, which were further distributed to thousands of plaintiffs. In October 1989, Exxon filed suit against the State of Alaska, charging that the state had interfered with Exxon's attempts to clean up the spill by refusing to approve the use of dispersant chemicals until the night of the 26th. The state disputed
Odyssey (tanker) Odyssey (tanker) Odyssey, which previously went by the name "Oriental Phoenix", was an oil tanker in operation from 1971 to November 10, 1988, when an explosion caused it to sink in the North Atlantic off the coast of Canada. The resulting spill remains one of the largest oil spills in world history. The tanker was off the coast of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia when it sank and released 132,157 tons (43 million gallons) of oil into the ocean. By way of comparison, 4.3 times as much oil was spilled by the "Odyssey" as from the much more famous