Insurers sue to nix Exxon spill case. (March 24, 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker oil spill, Prince William Sound, Alaska)

National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, September, 1993 by Katz, David M.

More than 100 insurers have sued Exxon Corp. in connection with the Exxon Valdez oil spill, claiming that because the corporation undertook the cleanup for public relations reasons there is no insurance coverage. Filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the suit charges that Exxon cleanup payments related to the March 24, 1989, tanker spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, "were made solely as a prophylactic measure to protect its corporate public image and profits." Under Exxon's global corporate excess insurance policy, there is "no coverage for losses incurred as a result of public relations incidents," according to the Aug.

30 suit, which also charges the Irving, Texas-based company with "willful, wanton, reckless or...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.