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| File photo, cleanup operations continue for the BP Deepwater Horizon platform disaster off the coast of Louisiana. (photo: Getty Images) |
08 July 12
he U.S. government asked a federal judge to reject Transocean Ltd.'s
bid to use a 159-year-old law to cap its liability at $27 million for
environmental claims tied to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The filing came the same day the Justice Department
announced an investigation of whether any criminal or civil laws were
violated in the BP Plc
oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the biggest U.S. spill on record.
The government is reviewing whether there were violations of the Clean
Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
The U.S. filed the motion yesterday in Houston federal
court to "make clear" it's entitled to pursue claims "for pollution
response costs, environmental damages and other injuries stemming from
the oil spill," Assistant U.S. Attorney General Tony West wrote.
"It is simply unconscionable, in the circumstances of
this case, that Transocean is attempting to use this" law to avoid
paying states or the U.S. for damages caused by the rig explosion, West
said in a May 24 letter to Transocean's lawyers.
The spill began after an April 20 fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig, which London-based BP leased from Switzerland-based Transocean to drill its Macondo well in the Gulf.
1851 Law
The law cited by Transocean, the Limitation of
Liability Act of 1851, is pre-empted by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990,
the U.S. said. The claims of state governments are also "not subject to
the limitation act," West wrote. READ MORE
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