In arguments last week, the Department of Justice urged U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier to impose between $16 and $18 billion in Clean Water Act penalties on BP Exploration and Production, Inc. for its role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Judge Barbier is the judge for the multi-district litigation over the oil spill.
The Department of Justice argued that BP’s role in the oil spill warranted the maximum penalty to be imposed. The multi-district litigation over the oil spill will enter its third and final phase in January 2015. The DOJ also argued that Anadarko Petroleum Corporation should pay between $1 billion and $4.6 billion in penalties. Transocean has already paid $1 billion to settle its Clean Water Act claims.
BP argued that in view of the drop in the price of oil in the past few months, imposing the maximum penalty would be especially painful. The price of oil has dropped approximately 45% in just over four months.
In addition, on December 19, 2014, the Court announced the deadline for filing economic and property damages claims as June 8, 2015. BP had argued that its settlement on economic and property damages claims should be set aside due to allegedly fraudulent claims being filed and paid through the Claims Administrator. The U.S. Supreme Court refused certiorari and will not consider BP’s appeal of lower court decisions upholding the settlement.
For updates, and for assistance with your oil spill claim, call (504) 599-8500.
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