Judge Carl Barbier has ruled on Thursday, January 26, 2012 that British Petroleum (BP) and not the contractors, Transocean, is liable for all compensatory damages that are related to the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon platform in April of 2010. The explosion killed eleven workers and caused a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest on record to date in the United States.
Transocean is still responsible for violations of the Clean Water Act, civil fines and penalties.
Both parties claimed the other was liable for 100% of the damages. The court ruling clears this up and leaves British Petroleum holding the bag for being responsible for all of the cleanup efforts and environmental damages following the oil spill along the Gulf of Mexico's coastline in Louisiana, Mississsippi, Alabama and Florida.
BP has already spent $14 billion on cleanup and recovery efforts along the coasts and Gulf of Mexico since the accicent occurred. They have set aside $20 billion for damage claims.
The oil spill caused billions of dollars of damage along the gulf coast states to wetlands, coasts, wildlife and disrupted many from their daily jobs as fishermen. It is still not known to what affect the extent of damage caused to aquatic wildlife.
Source: Proactive Investors UK
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