OT Oil rig. You have to feel sorry for BP. It is the contractor who maintains and operates the BOP. Once the sht hits the fan BP have no say(or expertise) in operations to save the rig. If that ROV can get plugged into the correct function intervention port, it may all be over.
Lawyers around the U.S. are descending on the Gulf Coast and preparing lawsuits over the huge oil leak more than 40 miles out to sea.
The lawsuits threaten to exact a steep toll on a handful of companies, including Transocean Ltd., the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded and sank last month, and BP PLC, the British oil company that leased the rig. Damage claims could also deplete a $1.6 billion federal fund set up in 1990 to compensate those hurt by offshore oil spills.
Already, a number of prominent plaintiffs' attorneys have filed suits on behalf of individuals, businesses and others who expect to lose millions of dollars as a result of the spill. On Friday afternoon, a handful of lawsuits were filed in New Orleans federal court.
The offices of Mark Lanier, a prominent plaintiffs' lawyer in Houston who handled much of the litigation concerning the painkiller Vioxx made by Merck & Co., filed one of the suits on Friday against several defendants, including BP and Transocean. The Lanier suit alleges the defendants were negligent or reckless, and violated "numerous statutes and regulations."
The defendants haven't commented on the suits.
The complaint seeks class-action status on behalf of all Louisiana residents who "live or work in, or derive income from, the Louisiana 'Coastal Zone,' " and have suffered losses. It doesn't ask for a specific amount in damages, but states that Louisiana's fishing industry stands to lose as much as $2.5 billion, and that the state's tourism industry "faces…catastrophic losses" as well.
The regime for compensating those hurt by offshore oil spills is complex, governed by a handful of intersecting federal laws.
Individuals can file traditional lawsuits in court and receive money by proving liability. Or injured parties can make use of a claims process established under the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, in which the federal government makes payments from a fund collected through a tax imposed on the oil industry.
The process allows those harmed to recover funds without going to state or federal court, which can take years.
Under the act, BP is responsible for $75 million in damages, though the law allows "unlimited" liability in certain situations, like a finding that the defendants was "grossly negligent" or violated other federal laws.
On Monday, Democratic Sens. Bill Nelson of Florida and Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey introduced legislation to raise the $75 million cap to $10 billion[LOL]. The bill also proposes that claimants would be able to collect damages from future revenues for the fund, with interest, if damages exceed the $1.6 billion held by the trust fund.
BP has said it would pay for the clean-up of the spill and for "legitimate and objectively verifiable" claims of property damage, personal injury and commercial losses, according to a fact sheet on the BP website. BP began drilling a relief well Sunday night in hopes of stopping the gush of oil from the leaking well in the Gulf.
A Transocean spokesman said, "We will await all the facts before drawing conclusions, and we will not speculate."
Lawyers expect the private litigation to unfold in the same way as the lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. over problems tied to unintended acceleration.
The cases will get consolidated and sent to one judge, who will then pick a steering committee made up of a group of plaintiffs' lawyers to direct the litigation.
Lawyers said that those claiming damages related to the oil spill couldn't recover funds through both private litigation and the federal claims process.
The degree to which victims will use the claims process under the 1990 act is unknown. But "there's no reason not to use" the Oil Pollution Act, said Barry Hartman, an environmental lawyer in Washington, D.C. Mr. Hartman said he used the claims process following an oil spill off of Rhode Island in 1996.
"Some people got money within weeks," he recalled. "Pretty much everyone was resolved in about two years."
Speed of recovery is vital to some plaintiffs, who operate fishing operations, restaurants and other businesses that can't afford operations to dry up, even for a season, said Dana Taschner of Mr. Lanier's law firm.‹
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