When the Deepwater Horizon had a catastrophic incident on April 20, 2010, 11 people were killed and 4.9 million gallons of oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico, forever altering the lives of many victims. Despite the initial assertions by BP Oil to meet its financial obligations in the aftermath of the largest marine oil spill in history, they have fought the financial settlement that the company reached on a voluntary basis, taking it to an appeals court to contest the terms of the settlement. The company did reach a settlement with many of the private plaintiffs in March of 2012, which concluded a pending legal action that was about to result in a civil trial.
In December 2013, BP halted payments under the terms of the $9.2 billion settlement it previously had reached. Attorneys for BP Oil went to court to argue that the settlement covered losses that were not directly linked to the oil spill and should not be part of the payout. However, the federal Court of Appeals that heard the argument ruled that the terms of the settlement agreement did not require the offer of proof that the damage being claimed was the direct result of the oil spill. This means that BP was required to resume the payments due under the terms of the settlement agreement. The appeals court ruled that the company failed to satisfy its burden that the settlement agreement required a specific burden of proof.
The United States Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that the “settlement agreement does not require a claimant to submit evidence that the claim was the result of the oil spill,” according to Judge Leslie Southwick.
The legal argument was based on the fact that claims were submitted that were not directly related to the Deepwater Horizon spill. BP Oil claimed that the settlement did not cover claims that could not be directly linked to the spill. For example, without any link to actual claims that were filed, a hotel on the Mississippi gulf coast that might have claimed damages related to loss of revenue based upon the aftermath of the oil spill would not be able to maintain such a claim against BP Oil under BP’s argument. BP had argued that claimants that could not trace their losses directly to the spill caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon should not be able to maintain their claims. BP Oil denies that many of the claims that were filed pursuant to the settlement are the result of scientifically based methodology. The Appeals Court struck down this argument.
As of early March 2014, BP Oil has paid 3.83 billion dollars in an effort to resolve more than 55,000 claims that have been submitted as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In addition to the claims that were filed, there were legal claims submitted by 700 casinos, as well as an estimated 250 financial organizations, approximately 750 government entities, and 900 business entities, and other entities that allegedly were harmed as a result of the BP Oil spill that were instituted as a result of the efforts of the Obama administration. These claims are not covered in the settlement reached by BP Oil. BP has struggled in court to prove that the victims who submit claims must demonstrate that the economic harm was directly related to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Court determined that the settlement might have been more protective of the rights of BP Oil, but the terms were agreed to by the parties to the settlement and were not unreasonable. The Court ruled that BP Oil would not be able to renegotiate the deal via the court system.
The BP Oil spill and other environmental disasters that have decimated the Mississippi coast have altered the lives of many people. At Barrett Law PLLC, our team of Mississippi BP Oil Spill Attorneys work hard on behalf of the people who have been decimated by the BP Oil spill and other horrific environmental events. To schedule a free initial consultation, please call us at (800) 710-9577. We do not collect our fee unless we recover compensation for the harm that you have suffered.
