BP Said to Seek Settlement of Spill Claims

[dipsydoodle]

BP Plc (BP/) is negotiating with U.S. officials to settle pollution claims over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill that may leave the company liable for as much as $17.6 billion in fines, a person familiar with the talks said.

The government cited the energy company with violations of the federal Clean Water Act for the offshore spill, the biggest in U.S. history. Officials are seeking fines of as much as $4,300 for each of the 4.1 million barrels spilled after the explosion of the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

The company is also in settlement talks with other firms tied to the spill, said the person, who declined to be identified because the matter isn’t public. BP is set to begin a Feb. 27 trial in New Orleans federal court in which it and other companies will face claims by business owners and residents from the region who had their property and livelihoods damaged or destroyed. The Macondo well blowout killed 11 people, sullied hundreds of miles of coastline and damaged fishing and tourism.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier will unify hundreds of lawsuits by fishermen, tour operators and state and local governments. BP, meanwhile, is seeking to shift some of the blame, and damages claims, onto co-defendant companies which helped drill and operate the well.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-09/bp-said-to-seek-u-s-settlement-of-gulf-spill-pollution-claims.html Feb 9, 2012 2:00 PM GMT

[chervilant]

1. A prediction:

BP will find a way to minimize the costs of this disaster by tying the "fines and repercussions" to their ongoing profitability and their desire to keep the price of gas as low as possible. In other words, if we try to make them pay for the Gulf spill(s), they will have to make us 'pay' at the pump.

[CAPHAVOC]

2. Feinberg was a Scam.

They only paid out half the money and are pocketing the rest. What a bunch of crooks. This new Bank mortgage deal is just as bad. We are sold down the river.