The US Department of Justice (DOJ) lambasted British Petroleum in a brief filed in the same court the oil giant is currently trying to settle civil claims brought against it after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.
BP is in the process of settling claims against it from Gulf coast fishermen and tourist destinations who lost a great deal of income as a result of the oil spill. The DOJ’s criticisms could be enough to cause the long-awaited settlement to be rejected in pursuit of a larger one.
The DOJ is seeking BP be punished for acting grossly negligent in the period leading up to and directly after the spill, citing company emails and the its internal investigation following the spill. There is evidence that the company may have been aware something was not right with the well, but continued operations without taking the proper safety measures.
If you have lost business as a result of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, contact the oil spill attorneys of Williams Hart at 800-821-1544.
