BP Witness Calls Spill Response ‘Extraordinary’ at Fines Trial

By Daniel Lawton and Margaret Cronin Fisk

(Bloomberg) — BP Plc “conducted an extraordinarily effective response” to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, the corporate’s first witness testified Monday because the oil producer sought to reduce potential air pollution fines.

BP instantly mobilized individuals and tools and recovered spilled oil on the highest-ever price, retired Coast Guard Captain Frank Paskewich advised U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans. The price of restoration was nearly 5 occasions higher than within the response to the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, Paskewich mentioned.

“The record is overwhelmingly clear and supportive that BP did what it needed to do, stepped up to the plate,” mentioned Paskewich, who testified as a witness for BP.

Barbier is conducting a three-week trial and not using a jury to contemplate Clean Water Act fines towards BP and Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which owned 25 p.c of the doomed effectively. BP faces a most potential effective of $13.7 billion, with the federal government having requested final week for a effective of a minimum of $11.7 billion. The U.S. mentioned final week Anadarko must be fined greater than $1 billion and fewer than the utmost of $3.5 billion, with out being particular.

BP says it doesn’t deserve huge Clean Water Act fines due to its efforts responding to the spill and minimizing its impression. BP additionally disputes the U.S. claims of lasting hurt from the spill.

A toxicologist testifying for the corporate mentioned in the present day that there aren’t any important or lasting well being results from publicity to the oil or dispersants.

“I found no compelling evidence for any significant exposure-related adverse effects either in cleanup workers or in Gulf Coast residents,” mentioned toxicologist Robert Cox, professor on the University of Mississippi. “I also found it highly unlikely any adverse health effects will become manifest in the future.”

Cox mentioned that state and federal monitoring didn’t detect any improve in well being circumstances associated to the incident. He additionally mentioned seafood from the Gulf is secure.

“The seafood has consistently tested 100 to 1,000 times lower than the safety thresholds established by the FDA,” Cox mentioned, quoting a U.S. Food and Drug Administration letter.

Blowout Deaths

The blowout of the effectively off the coast of Louisiana in April 2010 killed 11 individuals aboard the rig and spewed oil for nearly three months into waters that contact the shores of 5 states. The accident sparked hundreds of lawsuits towards BP, in addition to Vernier, Switzerland-based Transocean Ltd., proprietor of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, and Houston-based Halliburton Co., which supplied cementing providers for the undertaking.

The penalty continuing is the third section of U.S. trials over the spill.

In the primary section, Barbier decided that BP was grossly negligent earlier than the effectively blowout, permitting for potential air pollution fines to be nearly quadrupled. The second section ended along with his Jan. 15 resolution that the U.S. overestimated the scale of the spill, lowering the doable effective. The choose additionally gave BP credit score for capturing oil because it spewed from the ocean ground.

Eight Criteria

In the penalty section, Barbier will think about eight standards in setting the effective, together with the seriousness of the violation, the diploma of culpability, any historical past of prior violations, another penalties for a similar incident, and what BP has finished to reduce or mitigate the consequences of the spill.

Barbier beforehand dominated Anadarko wasn’t accountable for the spill and is on the hook for air pollution fines solely as a part- proprietor of the effectively. Anadarko has argued it shouldn’t pay a air pollution effective as a result of it had no fault within the spill and paid $4 billion in a settlement with BP, with the cash earmarked for claims to these harmed by the spill.

The case is In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig Deepwater Horizon within the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, MDL-2179, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).