After U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier ruled against British Petroleum last week, rejecting the company’s efforts to have its Clean Water Act fines related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill reduced, U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) hailed the ruling.
“After nearly five years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, it is time for the Clean Water Act fines to be settled so that RESTORE Act funds can be used to rehabilitate Louisiana’s coast from the devastating impacts of the spill,” Scalise said. “Judge Barbier’s court ruling is a victory for Louisiana’s recovery from that tragedy, as well as the rest of the Gulf Coast states. Five years is far too long for the people of Louisiana to wait to preserve and restore our coastal wetlands.”
On April 20, 2010, a gas release and explosion took place on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which was doing work for British Petroleum on the Macondo exploration well in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven workers died, and several others were injured in the accident. Several fines were imposed on BP as a result of the incident. BP had attempted to have the maximum per-barrel fine reduced on a legal technicality. Judge Barbier’s ruling denied that motion, enforcing the stated $4,300 per-barrel penalty.