"More than two decades after the Exxon Valdez supertanker struck a reef and unleashed the nation's biggest tanker spill, a lingering legal dispute about the disaster heads back to court on Friday.
At issue in a U.S. District Court hearing in Anchorage is an unpaid $92 million claim by the U.S. Justice Department and the state of Alaska for what they consider long-term environmental damage unexpected at the time of the grounding.
The claim was made five years ago under a special 'reopener' provision of the governments' 1991 civil settlement with Exxon, in which the oil company paid $900 million."
Yereth Rosen reports for Reuters March 4, 2011.
Source: Reuters, 03/04/2011
