A new settlement has been reached in government lawsuits against Exxon Corp. over the nation's biggest oil spill, a spokesman for Gov. Walter J. Hickel says.
The terms were to be announced Monday in Anchorage, spokesman Eric Rehmann said Sunday.An earlier, $1 billion settlement, announced in March, fell apart after a federal judge rejected the criminal plea bargain that was part of the deal and the Alaska House voted down the entire agreement.
Negotiations between Exxon and the state and federal governments resumed earlier this month. Exxon is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 7 on federal criminal charges stemming from the Exxon Valdez spill.
Exxon spokesman Bill Smith in Irving, Texas, refused to comment on the new settlement late Sunday. Justice Department spokesmen Doug Krovisky in Washington said he was unaware of any settlement.
Under the previous settlement, Exxon and a subsidiary agreed to plead guilty to four misdemeanors and pay a record $100 million fine. Two felony pollution charges would have been dropped.
Exxon also would have paid $900 million over 11 years to restore damaged natural resources.
That money would have settled the state's civil claims against Exxon and any the federal government might have brought. It would not have affected the private lawsuits seeking a total of $59 billion from the oil giant.
The settlement would have been the largest of an environmental damage case in U.S. history.