Everything But The Weed

Approved by:
Linda Maze, a Wedding photography Gainesville FL in Gainesville Florida

BP oil leak leads to class action lawsuit frenzy

The twentieth of April was obviously a really bad day regarding British petroleum as well as the consequences of this man-made disaster are now being felt but will undoubtedly continue and worsen before the leak is safely contained, cleared up and individuals will be compensated.

Inevitably the Deepwater Horizon oil rig was established off the cost of America and to be honest there may not have been a worse area for there to be a large oil spill. BP must navigate its way via a labyrinth of legal cases and class action lawsuits against them, as well as the Us government which probably carries a very low opinion of the company by now.

The newest breaking news concerning the oil leak is BP’s decision to pay for the construction of six sand barriers off the coastline of the US state of Louisiana in an attempt to protect the fragile wetlands.

At this stage the oil slick has reached Louisiana, a small part of Mississippi, Alabama and is currently supposed to reach Florida in several days and it would appear individuals are already preparing their legal cases.

Numerous restaurants from Louisiana and Florida have decided to take a proactive step towards recovery by filing a class action suit against British petroleum, whom the U.S. Coast Guard has recognized as the “responsible party,” according to the Oil Pollution Act.

The class action, dated May 18, was filed on behalf of several plaintiffs who are restaurant proprietors among others within the seafood service industry who have or will certainly suffer lost earnings caused by the subsequent oil leak following the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

British petroleum also hired workers to help tidy up the oil spill, both to the ocean surface as well as on land. It didn’t take too much time before workers starting being hospitalised in increasing numbers with high blood pressure levels, nausea or vomiting and pounding headaches.

Many of the employees BP hired were fishing crews and so they were given a dispersant called Corexit, which is designed to separate the oil into tiny droplets that are biodegradable. The company which produces the product and British petroleum claim it really is safe, but just to be on the safe side Government agencies have asked British petroleum to restrict its use.

If BP thought the worst was over, they had been completely wrong. The “top kill” strategy which has until now failed was a real setback to the organization. Every second the leak continues only contributes to an already massive bill which BT will have to foot.

Whilst the oil continues to leak BP will take hits from all directions. The share price has had to deal with billions wiped from the company’s value. They’re losing the very thing they went drilling for in vast quantities, they’ve agreed to pay for all of the clean-up costs, that may go well past $1 billion dollars.

Eleven people died when the oil platform exploded and it is now the biggest man-made catastrophe within the nation’s history. President Obama and his administration are less than impressed by BP having missed deadline after deadline to correct the leak. The credit rating agency, Fitch has decreased British petroleum from an AA  rating to AA.

It’s highly plausible that BP will be continuing to clear up the physical destruction from the oil leak for months and this could take several years before the legal mess has been sorted out simply because class action lawsuits will be coming in the thick and fast.