News Articles
Possible Problem for Reopening the Mouth
Posted on Jan 21st, 2015
 BP's fine for Deepwater Horizon spill could be less than anticipated
by Dale K. DuPont
Reprinted from WORKBOAT 1/19/2015
BP’s maximum penalty for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster could be $13.7 billion – about $4 billion less than anticipated and less than what the U.S. government wanted.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, New Orleans, ruled Jan. 15 that the disaster unleashed 3.19 million bbl. of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The government claimed a discharge of 4.19 million bbl., while BP estimated 2.45 million, court documents show. The amount is critical because of the potential fine, which will be determined in the next phase of the trial expected to begin Tuesday, Jan. 20. Under the Clean Water Act (CWA) penalties of $1,100 bbl. can rise to $4,300 when the spill results from gross negligence.
...BP said in a statement that the court is required to consider a number of factors in calculating the fine including efforts to minimize the spill, the economic impact of the penalty on the company and “any history of certain types of prior violations…. BP believes that considering all the statutory penalty factors together weighs in favor of a penalty at the lower end of the statutory range.”
Postscript to WorkBoat article: President Tom Ronayne says, "there will also be natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) fines possibly in the billions. Personally, I'm more concerned with how long the appeals and eventual funding will take than what the final number will be. It looks like Texas will have plenty to fund our $30-60MM mouth project." |
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