BP Gulf Spill Settlement: Energy Company Reaches Deal With Plaintiffs

NEW ORLEANS — BP PLC has agreed to settle lawsuits from thousands of fishermen who lost work and others who claimed they were harmed by the oil giant's 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The oil giant said Friday it expects to pay out at least $7.8 billion dollars as part of the settlement. It says it expects the money to come from the $20 billion compensation fund that it previously set out.

BP still has to resolve claims by the U.S. government, Gulf states and its partners in the doomed Deepwater Horizon project, in which pressure from a well a mile below the ocean's surface blew up a massive drilling rig, killing 11 men and spewing oil into the sea for nearly three months.

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Comments

[katrinasgiftshop]

05:04 PM on 03/04/2012

BP already knew that more than half of the 100000 plantifff have already signed a release of rights to them. They knew that more than half of the fisherman already sidned their rights over and the $2.3 billion provision did not make sense.
BP is smarter than plantiffs attorneys because they have access to logistics through GCCF.
NOT having a $ cap on total settlement is beniffiting BP , since if half of the 100000 get disqualified or have pre-settled while we were waiting for today, BP will never have to pay them right?
Make them pay 10 billion dollars and if anything is left, let that payout the others who were not part of this 100000 plantiff lawsuit.

[Huah]

02:18 PM on 03/04/2012

If there's more than 10,000 businesses and people involved, that $7.8 Bill shrinks down very fast. Some will never recover their previous way of life, but something is better than nothing. A shameful page in the history of Big Oil.

[katrinasgiftshop]

04:25 PM on 03/04/2012

BP knows that more than half of the 100000 plaintiffs have already signed OFF their rights to BP,
So they will never reach 8 billion. They already know that more than 50% off the fisherman have already signed waivers.

BP is smarter than the attorneys.

Not having a CAP is in favor of BP.

[T2]

04:35 PM on 03/04/2012

Settlement or no I wouldn't count any money till the check is cashed.
We are talking Big Oil here..
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-06-25-scotus-exxon-valdez_N.htm

[BlackisWhite]

08:05 AM on 03/04/2012

I would just point out to BP that spending an extra $100M per year on Quality and Safety in their Operations and for leak prevention worldwide could have been done for 78 YEARS instead of this partial settlement to account for their reckless actions in the Gulf. They are not alone as a company that put profits way ahead of their other stakeholders, including the safety of their own employees.

[votingthistime]

12:40 AM on 03/04/2012

I posted a comment to this article yesterday, and for the life of me I can't see why the moderators killed it. It contained no profanity. It was critical of the settlement. Here's the first 6 sentences:

The entire article is only four sentences long. I'm sure there's more to come. Michael Kunzelman and Harry R. Weber obviously wanted to be the first ones to report these developments. Settlement or no, someone needs to go to jail for this. After all, corporations are people, aren't they? There was a pattern of neglect, criminal neglect, at play which resulted in this disaster.

What line did I cross? What tipping point did I pass?

[99er2049er]

05:33 PM on 03/03/2012

Thank you president Obama for making BP pay the billions to the victims of the oil spill. And shame on you republicans for doing everything possible to block BP from paying and allowing the cap on oil spill responsibility to be raised to a more realistic burden by the oil companies.

Just another issue republicans are completely on the wrong side with.

[dsmithsfamily]

04:54 PM on 03/03/2012

7.8 billion does not sound bad. lets go up to the artic and drill its almost a sertanty we will have a spill up there what a mess a hole bunch of lawsuits to wright about

[Julie Ross Birmingham]

04:29 PM on 03/03/2012

The BP oil spill is,was,and forever be a itched into our minds. I grew up along the Gulf coast where in the early years (I am 69) rig accidents,spills,came with the industry. Later as an adult I worked at John SealyHospital in Galveston,Texas. We had young men coming in off those rigs with all sorts of injuries.m ostly brutely so. My point is there is always room for improvement. Strides have been made to make it as safe as possible for our men and women who performed such dangerous work. My prayers go out to the familes who lost thier men. Compensation will never replace them. I am so sorry this happen to them. God Bless.

[ThinkCreeps]

04:04 PM on 03/03/2012

Wow. Nice lawyering, BP. All settled for 25 cents on the dollar.
Their counsel must be heading right over to the Gulfstream dealer.

[alohageedub]

03:41 PM on 03/03/2012

Isn't that great....the fisherman's attorney's made about $3 billion.

[luziannagirl]

04:56 PM on 03/03/2012

Pray, tell, what kind of attorney would you pick if a multi-billion dollar a year corporation known for its dirty pool took away your livelihood for over a year?

And did environmental damage which cast a pall over your future?

Maybe killed your loved one?

Me, I'm finding the biggest, baddest, deepest-pocket firm I can. A giant among attorneys.

Cuz buddy, that's what it takes to go up against a giant like BP.

[alohageedub]

05:22 PM on 03/03/2012

I don't disagree, but, it's a shame those effected end up with pennies on the dollar and the attorney buy's a new mansion.

[99er2049er]

05:35 PM on 03/03/2012

I agree. And it's not the attorney's fault that the spill occurred, it's BP's fault. And if you refuse to do what's right after you commit the wrong, be prepared to shell out huge payments to both lawyers and clients.

[tenzenz]

03:35 PM on 03/03/2012

I am glad to see BP step up and accept responsibility for this, sooner rather than later, unlike what Exxon did in the aftermath of Prince William Sound. They dragged out the Legal Process for decades, until they knew they had a favorable Administration in the White House, and a favorable majority, aka; Corrupt Majority, on the Supreme Court, that would ultimately let them off the hook. The Ecosystem in PW Sound has been seriously affected for generations, not to mention the 1000's of lives and livelihoods that have also been affected, and received a small pittance of the damages that they incurred from one of the Wealthiest Corporations in the World

[getoffmedz]

06:30 PM on 03/03/2012

BP got a bargain.

Pennies on the dollar.

They pay pocket change.

[tenzenz]

01:47 PM on 03/04/2012

I wouldn't argue that, but they still dealt with this more responsibly than Exxon did re; the Exxon Valdez

[white41990]

03:33 PM on 03/03/2012

How about a settlemet over such high oil prices, and reimburse those with a valid drivers since 2001, $10,000 for ripping the consumer off at the pump by taking advantage of a deregulated market to speculate the price we pay to fill up.

[99er2049er]

05:36 PM on 03/03/2012

Agreed, and republicans wonder why so many people hate the oil companies, bankers, financial institutions, health care providers, insurance companies, and so many corporations. People are tired of being robbed, tricked, cheated, and harmed by corporations like this. This is yet another reason why groups like OWS spring up, out of a deep seated anger for the abuse companies like this are engaging in.

[MrTreize]

03:28 PM on 03/03/2012

My countrymen are DUMB, I hate to say it. They all settled for a small bit of chump change and no real damage to the companies reputation, which would have been a sure win in court.

[fap1947]

03:21 PM on 03/03/2012

And of course we will pay for it. No way that it will come out of thier profits or effect thier corporate welfare. Please give us back Standard and head back to England BP.

[AppleRN]

02:55 PM on 03/03/2012

What about the damage done to the environment?

[luziannagirl]

04:58 PM on 03/03/2012

What about it? Wanna make a bet that very little of that money goes to fixing what was quite broken even before BP "customized" it?

[99er2049er]

05:38 PM on 03/03/2012

I"m betting the republican governors will hijack that money and use it for their own agenda instead. Just like they did with the money to help the victims of the foreclosure scandals.

And what about the damages every one of us on this board will eventually face when we get particles of this spill in some of our food supply. Small amounts, but still, how are we compensated?

[getoffmedz]

06:33 PM on 03/03/2012

Mass murdered marine life can't sue.

[ZutPetje]

02:53 PM on 03/03/2012

Again an example that greedy ignorant multinationals are above the law. Paying to less and not standing on trial, while they should suffer in court. They will do the same with the upcoming claims; bail out with yours to expensive paid oil money. And oh the irony they are drilling again unward the next new biggest environmental disaster. Stop the billions of subsidies we put in these irresponsible companies and boycott big oil.

[alohageedub]

03:43 PM on 03/03/2012

How many Federal Government inspectors were fired?

What subsidies did you want to stop? What subsidies does oil receive that your local garage doesn"t?

[99er2049er]

05:39 PM on 03/03/2012

Over $2 billion a year in oil subsidies, that's the subsidies we want removed. There is no reason to give subsidies to corporations that are making the biggest record quarterly profits in history, while we are all getting stuck with the highest gas prices in history, all during a recession when we all need to be working together to climb out of this mess.

[ZutPetje]

11:16 PM on 03/03/2012

Your tax money goes to these greedy already to rich multinationals. http://priceofoil.org/fossil-fuel-subsidies/