BP agrees deal over Gulf of Mexico spill
March 4, 2012, Sunday
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BP agreed late on Friday to settle lawsuits brought by more than 100,000 fishermen who lost work, cleanup workers who got sick and others who claimed harm from the oil giant's 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, the worst offshore oil spill in the United States' history.
The momentous settlement will have no cap to compensate the plaintiffs, though BP PLC estimated it would have to pay out about US$7.8 billion, making it one of the largest class-action settlements ever. After the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989, the firm ultimately settled with the US government for US$1 billion, which would be about US$1.8 billion today.
BP still has to resolve claims by the US government, Gulf states and its partners in the doomed Deepwater Horizon project, in which pressure from a well a mile below the ocean's surface blew up a massive drilling rig, killing 11 men and spewing oil into the sea for nearly three months. Those claims from the government could add billions more to its tab, and BP has already paid billions in cleanup costs and to compensate victims.
The US Justice Department, in a statement, said Friday's settlement is not the end of the road, yet.
"The US will continue to work closely with all five Gulf states to ensure that any resolution of the federal law enforcement and damage claims, including natural resources damages, arising out of this unprecedented environmental disaster is just, fair and restores the Gulf for the benefit of the people of the Gulf states," the agency said.
BP said it expects the money to come from the US$20 billion compensation fund it previously set up. According to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust, current total trust assets are approximately US$9.5 billion.
The spill soiled sensitive tidal estuaries and beaches, killed wildlife and closed vast areas of the Gulf to commercial fishing. After several attempts to cap the well failed, engineers finally were successful on July 15, halting the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico after more than 85 days.
The momentous settlement will have no cap to compensate the plaintiffs, though BP PLC estimated it would have to pay out about US$7.8 billion, making it one of the largest class-action settlements ever. After the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989, the firm ultimately settled with the US government for US$1 billion, which would be about US$1.8 billion today.
BP still has to resolve claims by the US government, Gulf states and its partners in the doomed Deepwater Horizon project, in which pressure from a well a mile below the ocean's surface blew up a massive drilling rig, killing 11 men and spewing oil into the sea for nearly three months. Those claims from the government could add billions more to its tab, and BP has already paid billions in cleanup costs and to compensate victims.
The US Justice Department, in a statement, said Friday's settlement is not the end of the road, yet.
"The US will continue to work closely with all five Gulf states to ensure that any resolution of the federal law enforcement and damage claims, including natural resources damages, arising out of this unprecedented environmental disaster is just, fair and restores the Gulf for the benefit of the people of the Gulf states," the agency said.
BP said it expects the money to come from the US$20 billion compensation fund it previously set up. According to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust, current total trust assets are approximately US$9.5 billion.
The spill soiled sensitive tidal estuaries and beaches, killed wildlife and closed vast areas of the Gulf to commercial fishing. After several attempts to cap the well failed, engineers finally were successful on July 15, halting the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico after more than 85 days.
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