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
Exxon Valdez oil spill to be depressed; others emphasized the human costs of leaving children unattended while their parents worked to clean up. Many Native Americans were worried that too much time was spent on the fishery and not enough on the land that supports subsidence hunting. In 2010, a CNN report alleged that many oil spill cleanup workers involved in the "Exxon Valdez" response had subsequently become sick. Anchorage lawyer Dennis Mestas found that this was true of 6,722 of 11,000 worker files he was able to inspect. Access to the records was controlled by Exxon. Exxon responded in a statement to CNN: