A key government report issued on September 14, 2011 put the primary blame for the Deep Water Horizon oil rig accident that killed 11 workers and spilled more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf on the BP. The panel has been constituted by the professionals from two government agencies: the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement. The key difference between this finding and the ones by a presidential commission, congressional committees and the companies themselves is that others laid the blame more evenly across the various companies. Although in the government report, rig owner Transocean was accused of being deficient in preventing or limiting the disaster and Halliburton was accused of faulty mixing and testing of the cement, BP was identified as the primary party with responsibility for "conducting operations at Macondo in a way that ensured the safety and protection of personnel, equipment, natural resources and the environment". The report issued on September 14, 2011 found the failure of the cement seal in the well as the primary cause of the disaster. Although it was Haliburton's job to mix and test the cement mix, according to the report, it was eventually the BP who had the final word.
The panel recommended further changes to the off-shore drilling, including requiring at least two barriers in the well--one mechanical, one cement. The last line of defense, the blowout preventer, failed because a kink in the well pipe prevented the device from pinching the well shut.
History of Gulf Oil Spill
April 20, 2010: The explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon, killing 11 workers.
July 15, 2010: The Macondo well was capped (the oil stopped spewing)
September 19, 2010: The Macondo Well was declared dead.
Oil Spilled: More than 200 millions of gallons.
Damages: Fouled beaches from the upper TX coast to Florida, wreaking havoc in between from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on October 12, 2011 issued citations against BP, Transocean and Halliburton for Deepwater Horizon accident. The companies have 60-day timeline to appeal the two citations:
(I) Failing to operate in a "safe and workmanlike manner".
(II) Failing to take "necessary precautions to keep the well under control at all times".
The citations are the product of federal investigation that issued a scathing report on September 14, 2011. The citations may force the companies to pay a fine as hefty as $45.7 million.
On October 26, 2011, BP won permission from the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to explore oil in the Gulf of Mexico, first such exploration right the oil company won since the worst oil spill that had begun in April 2010 and lasted for several weeks. The well is at a depth of 6,000 feet, deeper than the Macondo Well where accident had taken place. The well is part of the company's Kaskida prospect in an area called the Keathley Canyon, about 250 miles south of Lafayette, LA. In the prior week (October 16-22, 2011), the company won the approval for the broader exploration region of Kaskida. The company had filed for permission in January 2011 for a much more rigorous review with strict compliance with rules related to "thorough well design, blowout prebenter and containment capability" in the words bureau director Michael Bromwich.
On February 26, 2012 (Sunday), the US District Judge Carl Barbier of New Orleans delayed the trial of BP in the worst off-shore oil spill by a week as progress had been made in negotiation between the company and a group overseeing various litigants, Plaintiffs' Steering Committee. The spill spewed about 206 million gallons of oil. BP already created a $20 billion compensation fund, called the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, headed by attorney Kenneth Feinberg. The fund has already paid about $6 billion to settle claims. The current negotiation may lead to closure of the fund and disbursement of remaining $14 billion among various litigants.
In late hours on March 2, 2012, parties announced that Plaintiffs' Steering Committee and BP had arrived at a $7.8 billion deal. The deal has to be approved by the US District Judge Carl Barbier. The deal's price tag is $7.8 billion, which would be available from the existing $20 billion GCCF. The deal has been crafted to settle the civil suit. The GCCF is likely to be closed down. The settlement will pay for spill-related illnesses, a new gain which was not under the coverage of GCCF. The new settlement, just like the GCCF, will pay for lost wages, property damage and business destruction, but the addition of illnesses is noteworthy.
On November 15, 2012, BP pleaded guilty to a raft of charges and settled with the US government for $4.5 billion. Breakdown of the settlement, to be paid over the next five years:
* 0.35 billion--National Academy of Sciences
* 0.50 billion--Securities and Exchange Commission
* 2.40 billion--National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
* 1.30 billion--Fine
On November 28, 2012, Environmental Protection Agency barred BP from participating in any new US government contracts over its "lack of business integrity" related to Deep Water Horizon accident.
On January 29, 2013, U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance of New Orleans gave seal of approval to $4 billion BP's criminal claims settlement with U.S. government, which the British oil giant had agreed on November 15, 2012. The Civil charges settlement is yet to be approved.
A lawyer, Lionel H. Sutton III , who worked for the GCCF administrator's office resigned on June 21, 2013 over the charges that Lionel H. Sutton III prior to coming to work for the Administrator Patrick Juneau referred many clients to the law firms who gave him cuts from individual settlements. Now, Sutton is the target of an investigation led by the former FBI Director Louis Freeh, who had been appointed on July 2, 2013 by the Judge Carl Barbier to investigate into any corruption in the settlement fund. However, the judge for the case, US District Judge Carl Barbier, took strong exception on July 19, 2013 to the statements issued by BP officials alleging fraud in the settlement program. Instead, Barbier said that there was no evidence of any widespread fraud in the settlement program.
Meanwhile, US District Judge Carl Barbier on August 7, 2013 upheld the US Magistrate Sally Shushan's ruling earlier in the day asking the oil giant to disburse more than $130 million in fees for continuing administrative costs for Patrick Juneau's settlement office. Barbier summoned the parties after BP made defiant posture over Shushan's ruling issued on August 7.
On August 30, 2013, BP filed a legal briefing, a second one in as many months, before a federal appellate court asking it to throw out the settlement as interpreted by the US Judge Carl Barbier. The British petroleum giant contended that Judge Barbier had misinterpreted the settlement terms and conditions, leading to higher payout to litigants. Last year BP joined the settlement with the plaintiffs' attorneys in a joint court filing. In July 2013, it filed a lawsuit before a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals disputing the interpretations of Judge Barbier of the settlement terms.
On September 19, 2013, Halliburton, BP's cement contractor for the Macondo well, pleaded guilty to destroying the records just after the April 2010 Deep Water Horizon accident that had killed 11 people. Also during the day, former Halliburton cementing technology director Anthony Badalamenti was charged for directing two of his employees to destroy the records. US District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo accepted the Halliburton's guilty plea and a fine of $200,000 for a misdemeanor stemming from Badalamenti's misconduct.
Following a split verdict from a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals a day earlier, Judge Carl Barbier on October 3, 2013 suspended the claims settlement process by Patrick Juneau, the administrator of the claims fund. BP claimed that the process being followed by Administrator Juneau was leading to misuse of the claims fund, and filed a request in the 5th US Circuit in July to order Judge Barbier to issue suspension order.
As part of the fines slapped on BP and Transocean, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation on November 14, 2013 announced $113 million grants for the five states that border the Gulf of Mexico. BP and Transocean paid $158 million earlier in the year to the foundation, and the companies will pay an additional $353 million by February 2014. The largest installments of total payment of $2.5 billion will come in latter years. The breakdown of $113 million in disbursement is as follows:
(1) Louisiana $67.9 million
(2) Alabama $12.6 million
(3) Florida $15.7 million
(4) Mississippi $ 8.2 million
(5) Texas $ 8.8 million
Over the next five years, NFWF's Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund will receive about $1.3 billion for barrier islands and river diversion projects in Louisiana; $356 million each for natural resources projects in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida; and $203 million for similar projects in Texas, according to GEBF head Thomas Kelsch.
Former BP employee Kurt Mix will go to trial on December 2, 2013 as the first of four former or current BP employees facing charges on obstruction of justices. Mix is accused of deleting text and voice records, and indicted on two counts of obstruction of justices. His former employer already pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $4 billion in penalties, including $1.3 billion in fines, as part of a settlement approved by the U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance of New Orleans on January 29, 2013. U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. has decided to put the case in jury trial system. (Based on report by Michael Kunzelman of The Associated Press and carried by The Dallas Morning News in December 2, 2013, publication)
BP Files against Settlement Terms to US Supreme Court
On August 3, 2014, British Petroleum filed papers at the U.S. Supreme Court, contesting its settlement with the Claims Administrator Patrick Juneau by citing the apex court's own "same injury" clause. The apex court canceled a class-action lawsuit filed against the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2011, ruling that not all the employees suffered the "same injury". BP's rationale was that "all" businesses who could show that they had lost money after the Deepwater Horizon's oil spill irrespective of whether they had suffered due to oil spill or not were entitled to receive compensation under the settlement terms, thus violating the "same injury" clause as claimants with no harm were treated as in the same class with the claimants with direct harm. However, the chance for BP to succeed, according to many legal experts, is low as, first of all, it was a signatory to the settlement terms, and on the top of it, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the settlement terms twice: first, a three-panel verdict of 2-to-1, and second, the full bench rendering a 8-5 verdict. BP claims that it has spent so far $27 billion in clean-up, response, restoration and claims payments, of which about $14 billion was used in response and cleanup.
BP at "Gross Negligence", Judge Rules
In a tell-tale sign of additional billions of dollar in damages due to its role in Deepwater Horizon's explosion, US District Judge Carl Barbier on September 4, 2014 ruled that British Petroleum was "grossly negligent" in the April 2010 accident. BP already paid $28 billion in clean-up cost and claims payment. The "grossly negligent" ruling will expose the oil giant to an additional $18 billion in civil penalties, nearly quadruple of the maximum penalty for the "simple negligence" charge under the Clean Water Act and almost five times high as $3.5 billion the company had set aside. Also, Judge Barbier had given a breakdown of responsibility in the tragic explosion that took place on April 20, 2010. He held BP 67 percent responsible, Transocean 30 percent responsible and Halliburton 3 percent responsible. BP had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges and agreed to pay $4 billion in federal criminal penalties. However, company's fate in civil penalties is far from over. In 2012, BP reached a settlement with many of the businesses and individuals, but last month filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on interpretation of that settlement. The September 4, 2014 ruling was related to the first phase of the trial, concerning the blowout of the rig itself. The second phase relates to how much oil has spilled in the aftermath of explosion, and has gone to trial in the fall of last year. The third phase of the trial that has gone to trial in January will lead to a final determination of penalties under the Clean Water Act.
Halliburton reached a settlement of $1.1 billion earlier this week, while Transocean reached a settlement last year for some of the government claims in lieu of $1.4 billion.
Judge Rejects BP's Call to Amend the Ruling
US District Judge Carl Barbier on November 13, 2014 stood by his September 4, 2014, ruling that BP was "grossly negligent" in April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. BP asked the judge to amend his September ruling or hold a new trial, none of which are accepted by the judge. Under the Clean Water Act, a fine of $1,100 per barrel can be imposed on the polluters, but the amount may rise to as high as $4,300 per barrel if found "grossly negligent". Scientists believe that Deepwater Horizon accident spewed 4.2 million barrels of crude in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the oil giant asked the judge to consider the spilled amount to be 2.45 million barrels.
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear BP Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on December 8, 2014 refused to hear the petition filed by the oil giant British Petroleum on August 3, 2014.
BP Asks Appellate Court to Ax the Administrator
Repudiated by the US District Judge Carl Barbier in November 2014, the oil giant BP filed a 75-page brief on December 24, 2014 asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the claims fund administrator Patrick Juneau on charges of showing undue favor to the claimants.
Transocean Reaches Settlement
The so-called Plaintiffs Steering Committee on May 20, 2015 reached a $211.8 million settlement with the rig owner Transocean.
BP to Settle all Federal and State Government Suits for $18.7 billion
In the largest environmental fine ever, British Petroleum on July 2, 2015 reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for $18.7 billion. Under the settlement terms, all federal and state government lawsuits against the London-based oil giant will be dropped. The company said that it would allocate an additional $10 billion to its reserve related to Deepwater Horizon's April 20, 2010, explosion that had killed 11 people, bringing the potential compensation fund to $53.8 billion.
Nearly $20 billion Claims Settlement Finalized and Filed
The US Department of Justice on October 5, 2015 outlined details of the largest ever settlement in nation's history announced on July 2, 2015. Under the final terms:
* $5.5 billion to be paid by BP under the Clean Water Act
* $5 billion to be paid to five states: Alabama, Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
* $8.1 billion to repair and compensate for natural resources damage, with funds going to Gulf restoration projects such as coastal wetlands
* $600 million for federal and state natural resources damage
* Up to $1 billion to local governments to settle claims for economic damage
The oil giant settled with individuals and businesses in 2012 for economic damages that had so far cost the company $5.84 billion
Trump Administration to Ease Off-shore Oil Drilling Regulations
Trump administration on May 2, 2019 took another stab at loosening the restrictions and oversight put in place by Obama administration in the aftermath of explosion of BP Deepwater Horizon oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico that had killed 11 workers and spilled more than 3 million barrels of crude in the water. The rules issued on May 2, 2019 by the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement will eliminate a requirement that the pollution prevention and safety equipment be inspected by third-party investigators. A post-2010 BP disaster panel appointed by President Barack Obama recommended such independent audit. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt lauded the final rule issued on May 2, 2019, saying that "today's final rule" enhanced the safety in a "commonsense way".
Deepwater Horizon Accident Might Have Worse Impact than Known so far, Research Finds
A research by the University of Miami professors that is published in Science on February 12, 2020 points to a broader reach of oil spill than known so far. Until now, the 2010 accident was blamed for spewing 210 million gallons of oil reported to have contaminated around 92,500 miles. According to the latest study, the spill's coverage may be as much as 30% larger and potent enough to kill about 50% of marine life it encountered.
A Decade Later, Drillers are Drilling Deeper, Risking Lives
What a decade means after one of the worst industrial and environmental disasters that had killed 11 people, spewed 135 million gallons of oil into seawater, killed hundreds of thousands of marine lives and battered the tourism industry from Louisiana to Florida in years to come. You have to ask to beholders and stakeholders, and the answers you will get can't be starker. To energy companies, the arrival of Trump administration and subsequent undermining of Obama-era strict safety rules allowed the energy companies to drill deeper and deeper to reap profits, even at the expense of safety. A recent Associated Press analysis found that the on-site visits by inspectors from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement had dropped almost by 20% in the past six years, according to April 19, 2020, The Dallas Morning News.
The panel recommended further changes to the off-shore drilling, including requiring at least two barriers in the well--one mechanical, one cement. The last line of defense, the blowout preventer, failed because a kink in the well pipe prevented the device from pinching the well shut.
History of Gulf Oil Spill
April 20, 2010: The explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon, killing 11 workers.
July 15, 2010: The Macondo well was capped (the oil stopped spewing)
September 19, 2010: The Macondo Well was declared dead.
Oil Spilled: More than 200 millions of gallons.
Damages: Fouled beaches from the upper TX coast to Florida, wreaking havoc in between from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on October 12, 2011 issued citations against BP, Transocean and Halliburton for Deepwater Horizon accident. The companies have 60-day timeline to appeal the two citations:
(I) Failing to operate in a "safe and workmanlike manner".
(II) Failing to take "necessary precautions to keep the well under control at all times".
The citations are the product of federal investigation that issued a scathing report on September 14, 2011. The citations may force the companies to pay a fine as hefty as $45.7 million.
On October 26, 2011, BP won permission from the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to explore oil in the Gulf of Mexico, first such exploration right the oil company won since the worst oil spill that had begun in April 2010 and lasted for several weeks. The well is at a depth of 6,000 feet, deeper than the Macondo Well where accident had taken place. The well is part of the company's Kaskida prospect in an area called the Keathley Canyon, about 250 miles south of Lafayette, LA. In the prior week (October 16-22, 2011), the company won the approval for the broader exploration region of Kaskida. The company had filed for permission in January 2011 for a much more rigorous review with strict compliance with rules related to "thorough well design, blowout prebenter and containment capability" in the words bureau director Michael Bromwich.
On February 26, 2012 (Sunday), the US District Judge Carl Barbier of New Orleans delayed the trial of BP in the worst off-shore oil spill by a week as progress had been made in negotiation between the company and a group overseeing various litigants, Plaintiffs' Steering Committee. The spill spewed about 206 million gallons of oil. BP already created a $20 billion compensation fund, called the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, headed by attorney Kenneth Feinberg. The fund has already paid about $6 billion to settle claims. The current negotiation may lead to closure of the fund and disbursement of remaining $14 billion among various litigants.
In late hours on March 2, 2012, parties announced that Plaintiffs' Steering Committee and BP had arrived at a $7.8 billion deal. The deal has to be approved by the US District Judge Carl Barbier. The deal's price tag is $7.8 billion, which would be available from the existing $20 billion GCCF. The deal has been crafted to settle the civil suit. The GCCF is likely to be closed down. The settlement will pay for spill-related illnesses, a new gain which was not under the coverage of GCCF. The new settlement, just like the GCCF, will pay for lost wages, property damage and business destruction, but the addition of illnesses is noteworthy.
On November 15, 2012, BP pleaded guilty to a raft of charges and settled with the US government for $4.5 billion. Breakdown of the settlement, to be paid over the next five years:
* 0.35 billion--National Academy of Sciences
* 0.50 billion--Securities and Exchange Commission
* 2.40 billion--National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
* 1.30 billion--Fine
On November 28, 2012, Environmental Protection Agency barred BP from participating in any new US government contracts over its "lack of business integrity" related to Deep Water Horizon accident.
On January 29, 2013, U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance of New Orleans gave seal of approval to $4 billion BP's criminal claims settlement with U.S. government, which the British oil giant had agreed on November 15, 2012. The Civil charges settlement is yet to be approved.
A lawyer, Lionel H. Sutton III , who worked for the GCCF administrator's office resigned on June 21, 2013 over the charges that Lionel H. Sutton III prior to coming to work for the Administrator Patrick Juneau referred many clients to the law firms who gave him cuts from individual settlements. Now, Sutton is the target of an investigation led by the former FBI Director Louis Freeh, who had been appointed on July 2, 2013 by the Judge Carl Barbier to investigate into any corruption in the settlement fund. However, the judge for the case, US District Judge Carl Barbier, took strong exception on July 19, 2013 to the statements issued by BP officials alleging fraud in the settlement program. Instead, Barbier said that there was no evidence of any widespread fraud in the settlement program.
Meanwhile, US District Judge Carl Barbier on August 7, 2013 upheld the US Magistrate Sally Shushan's ruling earlier in the day asking the oil giant to disburse more than $130 million in fees for continuing administrative costs for Patrick Juneau's settlement office. Barbier summoned the parties after BP made defiant posture over Shushan's ruling issued on August 7.
On August 30, 2013, BP filed a legal briefing, a second one in as many months, before a federal appellate court asking it to throw out the settlement as interpreted by the US Judge Carl Barbier. The British petroleum giant contended that Judge Barbier had misinterpreted the settlement terms and conditions, leading to higher payout to litigants. Last year BP joined the settlement with the plaintiffs' attorneys in a joint court filing. In July 2013, it filed a lawsuit before a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals disputing the interpretations of Judge Barbier of the settlement terms.
On September 19, 2013, Halliburton, BP's cement contractor for the Macondo well, pleaded guilty to destroying the records just after the April 2010 Deep Water Horizon accident that had killed 11 people. Also during the day, former Halliburton cementing technology director Anthony Badalamenti was charged for directing two of his employees to destroy the records. US District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo accepted the Halliburton's guilty plea and a fine of $200,000 for a misdemeanor stemming from Badalamenti's misconduct.
Following a split verdict from a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals a day earlier, Judge Carl Barbier on October 3, 2013 suspended the claims settlement process by Patrick Juneau, the administrator of the claims fund. BP claimed that the process being followed by Administrator Juneau was leading to misuse of the claims fund, and filed a request in the 5th US Circuit in July to order Judge Barbier to issue suspension order.
As part of the fines slapped on BP and Transocean, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation on November 14, 2013 announced $113 million grants for the five states that border the Gulf of Mexico. BP and Transocean paid $158 million earlier in the year to the foundation, and the companies will pay an additional $353 million by February 2014. The largest installments of total payment of $2.5 billion will come in latter years. The breakdown of $113 million in disbursement is as follows:
(1) Louisiana $67.9 million
(2) Alabama $12.6 million
(3) Florida $15.7 million
(4) Mississippi $ 8.2 million
(5) Texas $ 8.8 million
Over the next five years, NFWF's Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund will receive about $1.3 billion for barrier islands and river diversion projects in Louisiana; $356 million each for natural resources projects in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida; and $203 million for similar projects in Texas, according to GEBF head Thomas Kelsch.
Former BP employee Kurt Mix will go to trial on December 2, 2013 as the first of four former or current BP employees facing charges on obstruction of justices. Mix is accused of deleting text and voice records, and indicted on two counts of obstruction of justices. His former employer already pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $4 billion in penalties, including $1.3 billion in fines, as part of a settlement approved by the U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance of New Orleans on January 29, 2013. U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. has decided to put the case in jury trial system. (Based on report by Michael Kunzelman of The Associated Press and carried by The Dallas Morning News in December 2, 2013, publication)
BP Files against Settlement Terms to US Supreme Court
On August 3, 2014, British Petroleum filed papers at the U.S. Supreme Court, contesting its settlement with the Claims Administrator Patrick Juneau by citing the apex court's own "same injury" clause. The apex court canceled a class-action lawsuit filed against the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2011, ruling that not all the employees suffered the "same injury". BP's rationale was that "all" businesses who could show that they had lost money after the Deepwater Horizon's oil spill irrespective of whether they had suffered due to oil spill or not were entitled to receive compensation under the settlement terms, thus violating the "same injury" clause as claimants with no harm were treated as in the same class with the claimants with direct harm. However, the chance for BP to succeed, according to many legal experts, is low as, first of all, it was a signatory to the settlement terms, and on the top of it, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the settlement terms twice: first, a three-panel verdict of 2-to-1, and second, the full bench rendering a 8-5 verdict. BP claims that it has spent so far $27 billion in clean-up, response, restoration and claims payments, of which about $14 billion was used in response and cleanup.
BP at "Gross Negligence", Judge Rules
In a tell-tale sign of additional billions of dollar in damages due to its role in Deepwater Horizon's explosion, US District Judge Carl Barbier on September 4, 2014 ruled that British Petroleum was "grossly negligent" in the April 2010 accident. BP already paid $28 billion in clean-up cost and claims payment. The "grossly negligent" ruling will expose the oil giant to an additional $18 billion in civil penalties, nearly quadruple of the maximum penalty for the "simple negligence" charge under the Clean Water Act and almost five times high as $3.5 billion the company had set aside. Also, Judge Barbier had given a breakdown of responsibility in the tragic explosion that took place on April 20, 2010. He held BP 67 percent responsible, Transocean 30 percent responsible and Halliburton 3 percent responsible. BP had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges and agreed to pay $4 billion in federal criminal penalties. However, company's fate in civil penalties is far from over. In 2012, BP reached a settlement with many of the businesses and individuals, but last month filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on interpretation of that settlement. The September 4, 2014 ruling was related to the first phase of the trial, concerning the blowout of the rig itself. The second phase relates to how much oil has spilled in the aftermath of explosion, and has gone to trial in the fall of last year. The third phase of the trial that has gone to trial in January will lead to a final determination of penalties under the Clean Water Act.
Halliburton reached a settlement of $1.1 billion earlier this week, while Transocean reached a settlement last year for some of the government claims in lieu of $1.4 billion.
Judge Rejects BP's Call to Amend the Ruling
US District Judge Carl Barbier on November 13, 2014 stood by his September 4, 2014, ruling that BP was "grossly negligent" in April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. BP asked the judge to amend his September ruling or hold a new trial, none of which are accepted by the judge. Under the Clean Water Act, a fine of $1,100 per barrel can be imposed on the polluters, but the amount may rise to as high as $4,300 per barrel if found "grossly negligent". Scientists believe that Deepwater Horizon accident spewed 4.2 million barrels of crude in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the oil giant asked the judge to consider the spilled amount to be 2.45 million barrels.
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear BP Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on December 8, 2014 refused to hear the petition filed by the oil giant British Petroleum on August 3, 2014.
BP Asks Appellate Court to Ax the Administrator
Repudiated by the US District Judge Carl Barbier in November 2014, the oil giant BP filed a 75-page brief on December 24, 2014 asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the claims fund administrator Patrick Juneau on charges of showing undue favor to the claimants.
Transocean Reaches Settlement
The so-called Plaintiffs Steering Committee on May 20, 2015 reached a $211.8 million settlement with the rig owner Transocean.
BP to Settle all Federal and State Government Suits for $18.7 billion
In the largest environmental fine ever, British Petroleum on July 2, 2015 reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for $18.7 billion. Under the settlement terms, all federal and state government lawsuits against the London-based oil giant will be dropped. The company said that it would allocate an additional $10 billion to its reserve related to Deepwater Horizon's April 20, 2010, explosion that had killed 11 people, bringing the potential compensation fund to $53.8 billion.
Nearly $20 billion Claims Settlement Finalized and Filed
The US Department of Justice on October 5, 2015 outlined details of the largest ever settlement in nation's history announced on July 2, 2015. Under the final terms:
* $5.5 billion to be paid by BP under the Clean Water Act
* $5 billion to be paid to five states: Alabama, Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
* $8.1 billion to repair and compensate for natural resources damage, with funds going to Gulf restoration projects such as coastal wetlands
* $600 million for federal and state natural resources damage
* Up to $1 billion to local governments to settle claims for economic damage
The oil giant settled with individuals and businesses in 2012 for economic damages that had so far cost the company $5.84 billion
Trump Administration to Ease Off-shore Oil Drilling Regulations
Trump administration on May 2, 2019 took another stab at loosening the restrictions and oversight put in place by Obama administration in the aftermath of explosion of BP Deepwater Horizon oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico that had killed 11 workers and spilled more than 3 million barrels of crude in the water. The rules issued on May 2, 2019 by the Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement will eliminate a requirement that the pollution prevention and safety equipment be inspected by third-party investigators. A post-2010 BP disaster panel appointed by President Barack Obama recommended such independent audit. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt lauded the final rule issued on May 2, 2019, saying that "today's final rule" enhanced the safety in a "commonsense way".
Deepwater Horizon Accident Might Have Worse Impact than Known so far, Research Finds
A research by the University of Miami professors that is published in Science on February 12, 2020 points to a broader reach of oil spill than known so far. Until now, the 2010 accident was blamed for spewing 210 million gallons of oil reported to have contaminated around 92,500 miles. According to the latest study, the spill's coverage may be as much as 30% larger and potent enough to kill about 50% of marine life it encountered.
A Decade Later, Drillers are Drilling Deeper, Risking Lives
What a decade means after one of the worst industrial and environmental disasters that had killed 11 people, spewed 135 million gallons of oil into seawater, killed hundreds of thousands of marine lives and battered the tourism industry from Louisiana to Florida in years to come. You have to ask to beholders and stakeholders, and the answers you will get can't be starker. To energy companies, the arrival of Trump administration and subsequent undermining of Obama-era strict safety rules allowed the energy companies to drill deeper and deeper to reap profits, even at the expense of safety. A recent Associated Press analysis found that the on-site visits by inspectors from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement had dropped almost by 20% in the past six years, according to April 19, 2020, The Dallas Morning News.
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