CHICAGO: Texas has joined the crowd of Gulf of Mexico states to file suit against BP Plc, Halliburton Co and others for their role in one of the worst oil spills in US history.
The complaint alleges that the companies and others “engaged in wilful and wanton misconduct” for their role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The state has accused the firms — as well as Transocean, Anadarko and BP America in its suit — of violating Texas’ environmental regulations. Texas is seeking money from “lost” tourism revenues due to the spill, as well as money that would have been generated from state park entrance and concession fees paid by visitors to coastal communities.
The state is also seeking civil penalties for each day the oil spilled into the Gulf, and each barrel spilled into the water, as compensation for natural resources “injured, destroyed or lost.”
An estimated 4.9 million barrels were spilled, but BP has argued that 800,000 barrels that were recovered should be excluded from calculations for the purposes of any legal settlement.
REUTERS
