New Florida Oil Spill Lawsuit

New Florida Oil Spill Lawsuit

We have continued to report the allegations of damage to the environment in Florida. While we are involved in the Florida Oil Spill litigation that is pending, there is more coming. A new lawsuit has been filed where BP, Anadarko and Transocean are named as as defendants. This lawsuit was filed by the State of Florida and attempts to hold the Defendants responsible for the environmental harm caused by the oil spill.

According to the Times, "[t]he case Florida filed Wednesday is separate from the suit filed last year by the Attorney General's Office, which deals with economic losses Florida suffered as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Wednesday's filing seeks to hold the named defendants accountable for injuries to the environment the state suffered as a result of the oil spill."

BP Wins - Charities are Big Losers

Charities are the big losers as BP Oil Spill litigation drags on.

Charities are the big losers as BP Oil Spill litigation drags on. One claimant was a charity fund raiser that used fishing tournaments to generate donations. BP has not paid their claim. The oil giant has filed appeal after appeal after agreeing to settle claims throughout the Gulf Coast region. The spill happened nearly four years ago.

The end result of the litigation, claimants are left holding the bag.  For 11 years the fundraiser had attracted the best fisherman in the world. The event had raised $3 million. The claim has been on hold for 3 years. BP did not comment when a reporter reached out to discuss the matter.

Corexit and The Oil Spill

Must see TV. All about Corexit the oil dispersant. We have previously covered this chemical here: http://www.floridaoilspill.com/2010/07/florida-oil-spill-corexit-corrects-it.html

As Florida Oil Spill litigation continues, experts retained by plaintiffs lawyers are beginning their questions about the efficacy and long-term impact of dispersant on the surface and as injected into the oil-flow at depth. Attorneys are beginning to see: As we first noted here, dispersant was injected into the oil at depth.

BP Convinces Court to Delay Settlement

BP Convinces Court to
Delay Settlement

We have posted the complete opinion delaying the settlement payments below:

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-30315

IN RE: DEEPWATER HORIZON

"We REVERSE the district court’s order affirming the Administrator’s interpretation of the Settlement and denial of a preliminary injunction and REMAND to the district court for further consideration while retaining jurisdiction."

"The balance of equities favors a tailored stay. The interests of individuals who may be reaping windfall recoveries because of an inappropriate interpretation of the Settlement Agreement and those who could never have recovered in individual suits for failure to show causation are not outweighed by the potential loss to a company and its public shareholders of hundreds of millions of dollars of unrecoverable awards. A stay tailored so that those who experienced actual injury traceable to loss from the Deepwater Horizon accident continue to receive recovery but those who did not do not receive their payments until this case is fully heard and decided through the judicial process weighs in favor of BP. We therefore REVERSE the denial of the preliminary injunction  and instruct the district court to expeditiously craft a narrowly-tailored injunction that allows the time necessary for deliberate reconsideration of these significant issues on remand."

Tampa Bay Oil Spill - Oil Nearby?

Tampa Bay Oil Spill -
Oil Nearby?

Breaking News - "Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill, floating beneath the surface after being sprayed with dispersant, settled on a shelf 80 miles from the Tampa Bay region within a year of the spill's end, according to a scientific study published this week."

"The Corexit broke the oil down into small drops, creating underwater plumes of oil, something no one had ever seen before in an oil spill. The discovery of the plumes raised questions about how they would affect sea life in the gulf."

Any fix for this?

One expert told the St. Pete Times, "It made its way southeast across the bottom and eventually it gets to the beach," Weisberg said. "A little bit probably got into Tampa Bay, and a little bit probably got into Sarasota Bay, and it exited the Florida shelf down around the Dry Tortugas."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/oil-from-bp-spill-was-pushed-onto-shelf-off-tampa-bay-by-underwater/2137406