BP Montana Lawsuit: Company's Lawyers Ask Judge To Dismiss Claim

HELENA, Mont. -- BP lawyers are asking a judge to dismiss a Montana lawsuit that alleges the oil giant took millions of dollars in insurance money and then left the state with the bill for cleaning contamination from leaky underground storage tanks.

The state and the Montana Petroleum Tank Release Compensation Board accuse BP plc and its North American subsidiaries of fraud in the cleanup of pollution from gasoline storage tanks at service stations.

BP attorney Patrick Sullivan told District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock on Wednesday that a high standard is required to bring a fraud claim and the state's lawsuit does not meet it.

Comments

[El Justiciero]

04:26 PM on 10/21/2011

Well obviously the state of Montana is anti-business. (That's sarcasm)

[nomadrdw]

12:55 PM on 10/21/2011

what do we expect out of them. they have already walked away from the damage they have done to the Gulf, not to mention the thousands of fishermen's lives that may never recover from BP's negligence, and unconscionable need for profit over anything else, including peoples very lives.

[sheila]

12:09 PM on 10/21/2011

Surprise surprised. At least BP (and Chevron and Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs) are getting tens of billions more taxpayer dollars so they can kill our deserts now with Big Solar and Big Wind. The fun never stops when Big Energy and Big Banks create massive economic and environmental harm then get handed our public lands and taxpayer dollars to make another fortune pretending to "fix" the problems. Are we really that stupid? Big Solar and Big Wind will COMPOUND the financial and ecological damage done by these mercenaries, we cannot let that happen!

Support LOCAL, decentralized, democratically-owned solar solutions within our built environment, efficiency upgrades and the tools to accomplish them - PACE loans and feed in tariffs. Big Enviros and Big Government have colluded with Big Energy and Big Banks to perpetuate the wilderness-killing, extremely expensive, GHG spewing monopoly model - we are on our own here.

[justkeepswimming]

09:51 PM on 10/20/2011

For the state of Montana to sue an oil company, BP must have done something really bad. Res ipsa loquitur.

[JMiler]

01:09 PM on 10/20/2011

When you talk about standards to BP they think you are speaking about a competitor. This is a company that talks a lot about being responsible and good to the community until the subject of paying for it comes up and they get very quite or gone.

[mnyegele]

12:03 PM on 10/20/2011

Once again, oil companies are poisoning the public and trying to get away with it. In addition, they want billions of dollars in government subsidies.

However, it is the people of Montana who are responsible. They should fight back.

[darkmark]

11:12 AM on 10/20/2011

here's a simple one. don't buy bp products. boycott bp.

[shaftedbytheleft]

12:29 PM on 10/20/2011

good idea, and they're not even close to being one of the least expensive stations in any town...this is a no brainer, but i'm afraid you're only commenting to thin air...

[pmoschetta]

12:43 PM on 10/20/2011

I will deliberately drive an extra 10 miles to avoid buying my gas from a BP station even if those 10 miles takes me out of my way

[lacrosselamore]

11:03 AM on 10/20/2011

BP = Oil Pigs.

[paxatman]

11:01 AM on 10/20/2011

BP.......Beyond Puke

[April22]

10:59 AM on 10/20/2011

More unconscionable acts by BP.

Sixty years ago, BP was called the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., which profited from exploiting Iran's oil over many decades, by owning a majority of the shares.

The Anglo-Iranian Oil co. also had a role in the 1953 CIA coup against Iran's popular progressive PM Mosaddegh.

Just as in the beginning, BP continues to prosper at the cost of others.

The present relations between Iran and the West - UK and US are the result of a long past history. One well worth reading.

[Dean Rains]

10:05 AM on 10/20/2011

Destroying our planet one contaminated site at a time. And their execs make billions in bonuses for doing nothing.

[mcmutter]

09:56 AM on 10/20/2011

BP needs to hire more pretty blonde spokemen .... thats where hearts and minds are won .....

[sheila]

12:03 PM on 10/21/2011

Don't worry, one of their subsidiary companies, Bright Source, has RFK, Jr. shilling for it because they are killing the wilderness with "solar and gas" power instead of "oil" power. Like the wilderness cares which version of BP is killing it to overcharge people. The solar is even worse because WE could be producing that exact power on our own homes - much cheaper - and be PAID for the power, if we got the massive, massive loans and subsidies that BP gets or we got German style feed in tariffs.

Big Energy is the enemy, EVERY form of it. They are not going to solve the economic and ecological problems THEY are causing, we need to stop sitting around and waiting for them to do so. WE need policies that reward US for producing clean energy on our rooftops and not wasting energy (many studies suggest that as much as 80% of the energy created in our country is wasted!!).

[nomadrdw]

12:49 PM on 10/21/2011

over 50% is wasted just because of the century old power grid. upgrading the grid alone would mean not having to build any new power plants for at least 20 years. put thousands of people to work all over the nation, and more importantly, prevent 90 % of the blackouts, which cost billions of dollars every year as well. but of course, that could cut into the profits and subsidies that the energy companies get.

[Insightful]

09:53 AM on 10/20/2011

Keep in mind that after the damage is done no amount of so called cleanup will actually restore what they have destroyed. Money is not the answer. We cannot keep giving handouts in land usage to these corporations whose only interest is profit. They hit, destroy and run and leave a bunch of slinky lawyers to avoid any culpability.

[HKB]

08:30 AM on 10/20/2011

When I get heated up over this type of action and lack of accountability I am always reminded they are a corporation - and their decisions are always based on their own profitability and stock holders. They outsource an incredibable amount of work overseas, and get all sorts of tax benefits and loop holes to enable even more profit ............ and then we are told that in the eyes of the law they have equal rights as people ......... We need major reform on corporate taxation, supposed "rights equal to people" , and their ability to take our property, destroy our land and then walk away counting their gold

Pledgeing millions is easy - actually spending it and doing the clean up is a joke to them. Exxon Valdez - BP Macondo ......... it's not about to big to fail for them, its about no profit is too big for them

[Gottlieb]

10:19 AM on 10/20/2011

F&F for a fine post but I would add. Lawyers are cheaper than cleaning up pollution, buying politicians is cheaper than cleaning up, hiring a PR firm is cheaper than cleaning up, and delaying accountability is cheaper. I like to follow the money to judge motivations by corporations and politicians who maintain the fossil fuel fascism status quo.

[olitenup]

10:53 AM on 10/20/2011

As a shareholder of many companies, I can assure you, since 2008, our stock value has not gone up nor has the dividends.The only shareholders that are reaping benefits off this crisis is the executives and board of directors...not the rest of us.

[lightningbolt]

08:28 AM on 10/20/2011

Occupy BP

[darkmark]

11:16 AM on 10/20/2011

boycott them. they do have gas stations.