BP Found Guilty of Gross Negligence

It appears that finally all the dead sea-birds have come home to roost on BP's doorstep. The NGO has received the blow it has feared for more than four years after a US court ruled that it was guilty of gross negligence over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill - a decision that could add as much as $15 billion to its costs for the disaster.

The ruling hit BP hard sending its shares spiralling down 6 per cent and wiping $9 billion off its market value. "BP's conduct was reckless" Judge Carl Barbier said as he handed out his decision yesterday in New Orleans. Needless to say BP immediately responded by saying it would take its case to the US Court of Appeals.

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon platform at the Macondo well in April 2010 killed 11 people and spewed several million barrels of oil into the sea over the next three months.

I remember at the time seeing horrendous footage and photographs of oiled sea-birds, in particular Brown pelicans, many so badly oiled they did not survive. One of the worst marine catastrophes of all time.

Simply heartbreaking

I have friends in the Gulf area. One of them runs a dog rescue centre that came close to closing. It relied on donations from locals, many of whom were hit hard by this disaster and did lose their businesses. Donations virtually dried up as a result of locals losing their incomes. The rescue centre were forced to lay off staff owing to a calamitous loss of income. When it came to compensation the BP attorneys based it upon the number of staff employed after the lay-offs. Despicable, but that's lawyers for you.

This hike in BP's fine would push its total bill for the disaster well above the $43 billion that it has currently accounted for to cover costs such as legal fees and compensation.

Don't expect any sympathy from me...