Exxon ordered to pay $507.5M for 1989 Alaska spill

SAN FRANCISCO -- ExxonMobil has been ordered to pay $507.5 million in punitive damages to Alaska natives, fishermen, business owners and others harmed by the massive 1989 oil spill off Alaska.

The ruling by 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Monday affirms the figure set by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. It also awards interest payments at 5.9% to plaintiffs from the date of the original judgment in 1996.

The tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground March 24, 1989, spewing 11 million gallons of crude into Prince William Sound. The incident remains the worst oil spill in the nation's history.