On 2010-05-03 11:02:23 -0400, Larry Jaques said:

Yet another Obama Bailout, i.e. our pockets, right?

Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude* on March 24, 1989.
In 1994, a jury awarded 287 million USD in compensatory damages and 5
billion USD in punitive damages. Exxon's first appeal halved the
punitive damages. A second appeal (to the Supreme Court) capped the
punitive damages at just over a half-billion. That was June, 2008. In
June, 2009, in reaction to the delayed payment of the punitive damages,
a Fed ruling tacked on 480 million USD in interest charges.

Has any of this been paid?

BTW, the Exxon Valdez, now owned by Hong Bloom Shipping, Ltd. (based in
Hong Kong), has been refitted as an ore carrier and sails under the
name "Dong Fang Ocean" (Panamanian registry).

*Human error, dontcha know?

Scorecard:
1989 -- Reagan
1994 -- Clinton
2008 -- Bush, the Lesser
2009 -- Obama