"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. [2]