ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Alaskan Communities Settle Claims With Exxon: A few coastal communities soiled by the Exxon Valdez oil spill settled claims against Exxon for less than $1 million. The communities, along with half a dozen Alaskan Native groups, had filed a $100-million suit against the oil company in state court seeking property damage, unpaid cleanup bills and protection of archeological sites. Still unresolved are the Native groups’ claims for damage to their lands and archeological resources, plaintiffs’ attorney Robert Stoll said. The trial on those issues was to continue today. The settlements came as a federal jury continued deliberations that began July 12 in a separate class-action lawsuit filed by about 10,000 fishermen who seek nearly $900 million from Exxon.