A federal judge says it's not really his place -- at least not yet -- to make the government or Exxon take further action regarding ecological harm in Prince William Sound resulting from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

U.S. District Court Judge Russel Holland on Monday rejected a request by longtime environmental activist Rick Steiner that Exxon Mobil Corp. be ordered to pay $240 million to rectify problems that remain 22 years after the tanker ran aground, spilling an estimated 11 million gallons of crude oil and causing what Steiner calls the "most environmentally damaging oil spill in human history."

The judge said that it is up to the state and federal governments, not Steiner, to seek a court ruling on whether Exxon should pay $92 million as part of a "reopener" provision stemming from the 1991 settlement of a damages case against Exxon. The oil company paid $1 billion to settle the case but the reopener provision allowed the governments to seek up to $100 million later if unexpected problems were found.

In 2006, the governments filed a claim for $92 million under the provision but haven't pursued forcing Exxon to pay it. Instead, government attorneys told the court at a hearing last week, more studies are being done to determine exactly what restoration should be undertaken.

Exxon has said it doesn't owe any more money and would resist paying the reopener claim.

Steiner had asked the court to force the issue because he believes the studies have been going on far too long. He asked the judge to order the oil company to pay the claim plus $23 million in interest and another $125 million in criminal fines that had been suspended years ago. 

But the judge said no. "The possible reopener claim belongs to the Governments, not the court," Holland said in a five-page decision issued Monday morning. "The Governments and Exxon have a right to decide for themselves how and when to proceed further with the claim which has been asserted."

Holland, who said at last week's hearing that he believed it was "time to put this whole thing to bed," said it might prejudice one side or the other if he forced the issue before the governments or Exxon were ready.

The judge noted that the governments, through the Trustee Council that was set up after the spill, are continuing to study environmental problems and that hundreds of millions of dollars remain in a reserve fund that could be used for restoration whether or not Exxon ever paid the reopener claim.

"The court urges the Governments and their trustees to proceed with all possible speed to complete studies that are underway and any necessary evaluation which they may require," he said.

Holland did ask that the governments and Exxon provide him with a status report on the reopener provision by Sept. 15.

Steiner called the ruling "disappointing" and said the governments' lack of action to get Exxon to pay the claim is "a profound failure of the system."

Steiner, who has been advocating for decades for more and better environmental efforts in the aftermath of the spill, said the restoration reserve fund that the judge referred to has become little more than an environmental Permanent Fund of sorts. The Trustee Council keeps it flush with more than $100 million and only spends the interest of a few million dollars a year on restoring the sound.

"They should use it, absolutely," he said, of the fund. "The restoration process has been an utter catastrophic failure."

Steiner said the case should be a warning to victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill not to follow Alaska's path thinking a settlement now would also include a way to reopen consideration of environmental issues that might arise in the future.

He also suggested there ought to be a broader public policy debate over oil development in general in light of the fact that the governments and the oil company has failed to follow through on the commitment to clean up any mess that might be created through an oil spill.

"The governments have so blown this entire thing," Steiner said. "It is simply and entirely disgusting."

Contact Patti Epler at patti@alaskadispatch.com