Criminal Indictment of Exxon in Alaska Oil Spill Is Upheld

ANCHORAGE — A federal judge on Friday upheld the government’s indictment of Exxon and rejected a plea to throw out criminal charges stemming from last year’s massive Exxon Valdez oil spill.

“I deny all motions to dismiss,” U.S. District Judge H. Russel Holland said after a two-hour hearing in which Exxon Corp. and Exxon Shipping Co. sought to have the charges against them thrown out.

The ruling, to be followed by a written opinion later, was welcomed by Justice Department lawyers, who are prosecuting the two Exxon companies for the nation’s worst oil spill.

“The indictment is proper and fairly puts the defendants on notice of what they have to defend against,” Holland said in a brief statement. Exxon lawyers at the hearing voiced disappointment over their defeat but said there would be no appeal.

The trial has been set for April 10, more than two years after the tanker Exxon Valdez rammed into Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound and spilled 11 million gallons of oil into pristine waters, fouling rich fishing grounds and wildlife habitat.