Reporter: Valerie Alvord, contributor
Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Exxon Corp. was ordered yesterday to pay $5 billion in punitive damages to commercial fishermen, Alaska natives, property owners and others harmed by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The federal jury also ordered the tanker’s captain, Joseph Hazelwood, to pay $5,000.

The 11-member jury returned the verdict after more than 12 days of deliberations.

The plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit – an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 people – had asked for $15 billion, based on Exxon annual reports pegging the company’s average yearly profits at $5 billion.

Exxon lawyers urged the jury not to award punitive damages. They said that the oil giant had learned its lesson in spending $3 billion to clean up the spill and to settle lawsuits filed by the state and federal governments in the aftermath of the nation’s worst oil spill.

San Diego lawyer Richard Gerry, one of five attorneys representing the plaintiffs, said, "We expect them to appeal this verdict all the way up to the Supreme Court of the United States. And we expect to prevail there, too.

"What our clients really wanted, more than the money, is that they’re happy with the vindication of seeing Exxon punished. This is the 26th largest economic entity in the world. It’s difficult for people like fishermen, cannery workers and land owners to fight a company like Exxon. It becomes so huge and so arrogant that the company tells governments what to do."

Exxon lawyer Patrick Lynch called the verdict shocking.

"It’s hard to understand based on the records, the nature of the accident and efforts Exxon made to make good since then," Lynch said.

Brian O’Neill, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said, "Even for a large company like Exxon, this amount of money is enough to change their behavior."

The largest damage award in a civil case was $11.12 billion to Pennzoil Co. The judgment against Texaco Inc., over its unethical tactics in trying to break up a merger between Pennzoil and Getty Oil Co., was later reduced to $5.5 billion in an out-of-court settlement.

The plaintiffs in the Exxon case contended that the spill, which dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil across the Prince William Sound, reduced property values and damaged fishing and hunting grounds.

Ken Duffus, A Cook Inlet salmon fisherman from Eagle River, said he expects a long, drawn-out appeals process. "I’ll believe it when I see the check in the mail," he said.

Just before the verdict was announced, Exxon’s stock was trading at $58.75 per share. After the verdict, it rose to $60.25, where it finished the day, down 75 cents.