United States News
See other United States News Articles
Title: Govt Sues BP, 8 Other Companies In Gulf Oil Spill
Source:
Associated Press
URL Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/artic ... /12/15/national/w105400S50.DTL
Published: Dec 15, 2010
Author: Associated Press
Post Date: 2010-12-15 14:57:32 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 1622
Comments: 5
The Justice Department on Wednesday sued BP and eight other companies in the Gulf oil spill disaster in an effort to recover billions of dollars from the largest offshore spill in U.S. history. The Obama administration's lawsuit asks that the companies be held liable without limitation under the Oil Pollution Act for all removal costs and damages caused by the oil spill, including damages to natural resources. The lawsuit also seeks civil penalties under the Clean Water Act. "We intend to prove these violations caused or contributed to the massive oil spill," Attorney General Eric Holder told a news conference. The amount of damages and the extent of injuries sustained by the United States as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Spill are not yet fully known, the lawsuit states. An explosion that killed 11 workers at BP's Macondo well last April led to oil spewing from the company's undersea well — more than 200 million gallons in all by the government's estimate. BP disputes the figure. The department filed the suit in federal court in New Orleans. The other defendants in the case are Anadarko Exploration & Production LP and Anadarko Petroleum Corp.; MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC; Triton Asset Leasing GMBH; Transocean Holdings LLC and Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc. and Transocean Deepwater Inc.; and BP's insurer, QBE Underwriting Ltd./Lloyd's Syndicate 1036. Anadarko and MOEX are minority owners of the well that blew out. Transocean owned the rig that BP was leasing. Transocean disputed the allegations, insisting it should not be held liable for the actions of others. "No drilling contractor has ever been held liable for discharges from a well under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990," the company said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. "The responsibility for hydrocarbons discharged from a well lies solely with its owner and operator." QBE/Lloyd's can be held liable only up to the amount of insurance policy coverage under the Oil Pollution Act and is not being sued under the Clean Water Act. The lawsuit alleges that safety and operating regulations were violated in the period leading up to April 20. It says that the defendants failed to keep the Macondo well under control during that period and failed to use the best available and safest drilling technology to monitor the well's conditions. They also failed to maintain continuous surveillance and failed to maintain equipment and material that were available and necessary to ensure the safety and protection of personnel, equipment, natural resources and the environment, the suit charges. Before Wednesday, potential class-action lawsuits had been filed in the Gulf oil spill by fishing and seafood interests, the tourism industry, restaurants and clubs, property owners losing vacation renters — even vacationers who claim the spill forced them to cancel and lose a deposit. So far, more than 300 suits have been spawned by the spill and consolidated in federal court in New Orleans. Wednesday's move by the Justice Department follows the Obama administration's decision not to open new areas of the eastern Gulf and Atlantic seaboard to drilling. That marked a reversal from an earlier decision to hunt for oil and gas, an announcement the president himself made last spring three weeks before the spill. The staff of a presidentially appointed commission looking into the spill has said that the disaster resulted from questionable decisions and management failures by three companies: BP, the well owner and operator; Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig; and Halliburton. The panel found 11 decisions made by these companies increased risk. Most saved time, and all but one had a safer alternative. Separately, an administrator is doling out money to Gulf oil spill victims from a $20 billion fund of BP money. The Justice Department isn't the first government entity to sue BP. Alabama Attorney General Troy King filed federal lawsuits in August on behalf of the state against BP, rig owner Transocean, cement contractor Halliburton Energy Services Inc. and other companies that worked on the ill-fated drilling project. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier is presiding over most of the consolidated federal suits. In September, Louisiana Attorney General James "Buddy" Caldwell's office asked Barbier to create a "government case track" to handle government-related suits separately from other claims. The judge hasn't ruled on that request yet. Other companies that were not targeted by the Justice Department lawsuit could be added later if the department decides that the evidence warrants it. Among the other companies whose names have emerged in the aftermath of the spill are Halliburton, which handled the cementing of the well; and Cameron International, which made the blowout preventer that apparently failed to stop the gusher after the rig exploded last April 20.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Bend over consumers, you're about to take it in the shorts once again!
Bullshit. The gov't doesn't sue bp. It does what happened to Assange/Madoff's Son. they're dead corps/empires walking now.
How is the Gulf Coast evacuation proceeding, mcclown, you fookin idiot?
..Why is that? He runs the place! He is a general! Oh, he has other things there such as hostile courts that won’t rubber stamp all of his corruption and crimes against his own people. How can he work with the US to assassinate peasants and mow down defenseless women and children if the courts there stop him from doing this? On the Azerbaijan gas leak, acable reports for the first time that BP suffered a blowout in September 2008, as it did in the Gulf with devastating consequences in April, as well as the gas leak that the firm acknowledged at the time. "Due to the blowout of a gas-injection well there was 'a lot of mud' on the platform, which BP would analyze to help find the cause of the blowout and gas leak," the cable said. Written a few weeks after the incident, the cable said Bill Schrader, BP's then head of Azerbaijan, admitted it was possible the company "would never know" the cause although it "is continuing to methodically investigate possible theories". According to another cable, in January 2009 BP thought that a "bad cement job" was to blame for the gas leak in Azerbaijan. More recently, BP's former chief executive Tony Hayward also partly blamed a "bad cement job" by contractor Halliburton for the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The blowout in the Gulf led to the deaths of 11 workers and the biggest accidental offshore oil spill in history.
The Gulf of Mexico is dying. The $2,2 trillion economy a shambles. The Coast a HAZMAT zone.
The department filed the suit in federal court in New Orleans.
#2. To: Brian S (#0)
#3. To: mcgowanjm (#2)
they're dead corps/empires walking now.
#4. To: All (#2)
..‘Vy haff you not schtopped der peasants, Dummkopf!’ yells the Admiral when he storms into the headquarters of the Eastern Front. Yes, we seem set to reproduce all the Nazi cliches. This is what happens when our Pentagon folk watch only FOX TV. They go insane or turn into Nazis. The ‘elected’ leader of Pakistan who really didn’t win a popular election any more than Zuckerberg won the Time’s Humanoid of the Year award, is talking about having a military coup in his own country.
#5. To: All (#4)
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]