BP’s tactic of skirting payments isn’t original among oil companies: in the 25 years since the Exxon Valdez spill, Exxon still hasn’t paid the $92 million it owes to the state of Alaska and Department of Justice for wildlife recovery — in fact, they’ve been fighting the claims since the spill occurred. BP, too, is taking its case to court, alleging that a claims administrator for the 2012 settlement miscalculated losses from businesses. A lawyer who helped administer the settlement, Lionel H. Sutton III, is under investigation for misconduct, and on Tuesday BP also asked a judge to halt all payments while the investigation is underway. It’s not just claims of business losses BP is looking to stymie, however: the company is also trying to reduce the payment it owes from Clean Water Act fines. BP is claiming that because, by its estimates, 10 percent of the oil spilled in the Deepwater Horizon explosion was broken up by dispersants and therefore did not reach the surface of the water, that oil shouldn’t be accounted for in BP’s fines. The amount of money BP owes in Clean Water Act fines is still being debated: the U.S. government estimates that 4.1 million barrels of oil entered the water during the Gulf spill, which would make the maximum fine BP faces BP faces $17.6 billion. BP, on the other hand, argues that only 2.46 million barrels of oil entered the water, and that 10 percent of that water was dispersed — an amount that, if found to be accurate, would lower BP’s maximum fine to $9.5 billion. thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/07/17/2310761/bp-tries-to-avoid-payments-for-deepwater-horizon-disaster-by-accusing-gulf-businesses-of-fraud/?mobile=nc
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 17:40:23 +0000
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