CITY OF HOMER

HOMER, ALASKA

                                                                                                                                    Mayor

RESOLUTION 06-27

 

A RESOLUTION OF SUPPORT BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HOMER, ALASKA, TO REOPEN THE 1991 CIVIL SETTLEMENT FROM THE EXXON VALDEZ SPILL AND CLAIM THE FULL $100 MILLION FOR RESTORATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES SUFFERING UNANTICIPATED INJURY.

 

WHEREAS, On October 19, 1991, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska approved a settlement among Exxon, the United States, and the State of Alaska for injuries to natural resources from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS); and

 

WHEREAS, This settlement includes a clause entitled the “Reopener for Unknown Injury,” which provides that, between September 1, 2002 and September 1, 2006 Exxon shall pay to the Governments such additional sums as are required (up to $100 million) to restore injured populations, habitats, or species if the injury could not reasonably have been known nor anticipated at the time of the settlement; and

 

WHEREAS, Long-term injuries were unanticipated at the time of the settlement because the understanding of oil persistence and toxicity held that oil only caused short-term injury at water levels of parts per million, and scientists now realize that oil also causes long-term injury at water levels of parts per billion and trillion; and

 

WHEREAS, Only 7 of the 30 resources or species listed by the EVOS Trustee Council as injured by the EVOS have recovered; and

 

WHEREAS, 18 of the 30 resources or species listed by the EVOS Trustee Council as injured by the EVOS have not recovered, including

  • Common Loons
  • Harbor Seals
  • Pacific Herring
  • Cormorants (3spp.)
  • Harlequin Ducks
  • Pigeon Guillemots
  • Clams
  • Intertidal Communities
  • Marbled Murrelets
  • Sea Otters
  • Designated Wilderness
  • Killer Whales (AB Pod)
  • Mussels

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Resolution 06-27

City of Homer

 

 

  • Sediments
  • Recreation Tourism
  • Passive Uses
  • Commercial Fishing
  • Subsistence; and

 

WHEREAS, the status of the remaining 5 of the 30 resources or species listed by the EVOS Trustee Council as injured by the EVOS is unknown; and

 

WHEREAS, Unanticipated injury from the EVOS has been documented by scientists funded through the EVOS Trustee Council and, separately through federal and state agencies, universities and private foundations; and

 

WHEREAS, Neither the United States nor the State of Alaska have acted to reopen the settlement.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED That the City Council of the City of Homer, Alaska, hereby requests that the United States and the State of Alaska reopen the 1991 civil settlement and claim the entire $100 million to restore populations, habitats, or species that suffered significant losses or declines as a result of the spill and that suffer injuries that could not reasonably have been known or anticipated at the time of the settlement.

 

            PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Homer City Council this 27th day of February, 2006.

 

 

                                                                        CITY OF HOMER

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

ATTEST:                                                                     JAMES C. HORNADAY, MAYOR

 

 

                                                                       

MARY L. CALHOUN, CMC, CITY CLERK

 

 

 

Fiscal Note:  N.A.