BP Charges filed by Justice Dept. - Gross Negligence and Willful Neglect

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/05/us-bp-oilspill-negligence-idUSBRE88401E20120905



(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is ramping up its rhetoric against BP PLC for the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, describing in new court papers examples of what it calls "gross negligence and willful misconduct."

The court filing is the sharpest position yet taken by the U.S. government as it seeks to hold the British oil giant largely responsible for the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

Gross negligence is a central issue to the case, slated to go to trial in New Orleans in January 2013. A gross negligence finding could nearly quadruple the civil damages owed by BP under the Clean Water Act to $21 billion....

Good. Wonderful, in fact. It's well overdue.

Did you see the video from the Mobile Press Register that SheSurfs posted on PDF? It was heartbreaking. Not only that, but the folks who made the video saw 27 sharks as they worked from a boat that was in six feet of water not far from shore.

That alone - the number of sharks reported - could ruin tourism over there in Baldwin County.

PB, I didn't see the video. I'll see if I can find it.

Here it is, with thanks to SheSurfs:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/lots_of_sharks_and_lots_of_oil.html

Pretty gross. I hope that some of those BP decisionmakers go to jail... but that ain't gonna happen.

If I screwed up at any comparable level, they would make an example outta me!

My husband started working in May for a law firm that is facilitating the Deepwater Horizon claims. He loves the job because it is so satisfying to help people in a bad situation. His firm is handling property loss, and they expect to keep him busy until at least the end of 2014. It's been a real Godsend for us, as he had been laid off for almost a year!

I bet Olddaze is happy to see this news, even though it does seem long overdue.