BP Found "Grossly Negligent" in 2010 Gulf Oil Spill
Posted September 05, 2014 08:20 am
Deep Water Horizon BP disaster
TALLAHASSEE, FL - BP now stands to pay up to $17
billion in Clean Water Act fines after a judge on
Thursday ruled the oil company was "grossly negligent"
in its conduct leading up to the Deepwater Horizon
explosion in 2010.
While the
judge's decision did not surprise groups such as the
Environmental Defense Fund, the swiftness of the
decision did, said Steve Cochran, director of the fund's
Mississippi River Restoration Project.
"People did not expect this to occur until sometime next
year," he said. "For those of us who work on
restoration, the main thing we're interested in is,
'Let's get this settled,' so that the resources can flow
to places like Florida."
The finding of "gross negligence" means BP is liable for
fines under the Clean Water Act of up to four times the
established penalty per barrel of oil spilled. A trial
is to begin in January to establish how much was
spilled; the federal government estimates more than 4
million barrels, while BP insists the total is a little
more than half that amount.
Ultimately, much of the money will go into the Gulf
Restoration Fund, established by Congress to help manage
the fines collected for projects to help repair damage
from the oil spill. Beyond that, Cochran said, the
judge's ruling sends a clear message to other offshore
drilling operations.
"This case says very clearly at this point, 'If you
don't take your responsibility seriously, and you let
something like this happen, you're going to pay dearly
for it,' " Cochran said.
Cochran and others said the ruling also increases the
company's liability for civil penalties under the Clean
Water Act. BP
said it strongly disagrees with the decision issued
Thursday and will immediately appeal. The two other
parties involved in the spill, Halliburton and
Transocean, were ruled to be "negligent."
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