BP ‘still not in the clear’ over US oil disaster damages

An out-of-court settlement will see BP pay out to meet 110,000 private claims, including fishermen who lost work and people who said their health suffered following the oil spill.

But the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said the settlement does not compensate for “significant damages” or BP’s “violation of the law”.

It is bringing a federal negligence case against BP following the explosion on April 2010, which caused millions of barrels of oil to be leaked into the Gulf of Mexico and killed 11 workers.

If BP is found grossly negligent it could be fined as much as $18bn under the Clean Water Act.

The DoJ said: “While we are pleased that BP may be stepping up to address harms to individual plaintiffs, this by no means fully addresses its responsibility for the harms it has caused.”

BP thrashed out an agreement with the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC) in one of the largest ever class-action settlements.

It expects the money to come from the £12.6bn compensation fund that it set up following the worst spill in US history.

BP chief executive Bob Dudley said: “From the beginning, BP stepped up to meet our obligations to the communities in the Gulf Coast region and we’ve worked hard to deliver on that commitment for nearly two years.

“The proposed settlement represents significant progress toward resolving issues from the Deepwater Horizon accident and contributing further to economic and environmental restoration efforts along the Gulf Coast.”

In addition to the legal action from the Department of Justice, BP faces action from the states of Alabama and Louisiana, and from its partners on the rig.

A trial in the case that was due to start today has been postponed indefinitely to allow BP to finalise its deal with the PSC.

BP had been due in the dock in New Orleans alongside contractors Halliburton and Transocean as a single judge decided who was to blame for what happened when the rig exploded. All the companies are in dispute with each other over their liability to each other.

The 2010 spill soiled sensitive tidal estuaries and beaches, killed wildlife and closed vast areas of the Gulf.