Damages Set in Amoco Oil Spill

A federal judge today ordered Amoco Corp. to pay $85.2 million to the French government and scores of villages for damages from the wreck of the supertanker Amoco Cadiz, which spilled 68 million gallons of oil off the Brittany coast nearly a decade ago.

U.S. District Judge Frank McGarr, who ruled in 1984 that the Chicago-based Amoco was liable for the March 16, 1978, oil spill, heard more than a year of expert testimony before determining damages in the second phase of the trial. Besides France, the plaintiffs included 90 villages, associations of oystermen and fishermen, environmentalists and property owners. McGarr said $39.7 million of the $85.2 million awarded was interest. Attorneys for Amoco immediately said they would appeal the award.