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 U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, Louisiana, on
Thursday found that BP was guilty of "gross negligence" ahead of the
rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The April 20, 2010 blast killed
11 workers and spewed millions of barrels of oil for nearly three
months.
The "gross negligence" designation could quadruple BP's federal
financial penalties, adding as much as $18 billion to the bill for
worst offshore environmental disaster in U.S. history.
BP said it would appeal the decision, arguing that "the law is clear
that proving gross negligence is a very high bar that was not met in
this case."
Legal experts said that if Barbier's interpretation is upheld and
adopted by other courts, it may leave a range of industries more
exposed to potentially greater penalties.
"Other regulated industries are also going to be looking at what are
the standards that courts are going to impose on their actions,"
said Jessica Owley, an environmental law expert at SUNY Buffalo Law
School. These include activities that may accidentally pollute
waterways or cause environmental harm, like nuclear power, fracking
and paper processing, Owley and other legal experts said. These
businesses may also be subject to penalties under federal statutes
like the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act.
Barbier's ruling remains a long way from setting a wide-ranging
legal precedent. Considering the stakes, the case could drag on for
years, ultimately landing before the U.S. Supreme Court.
MISTAKES WERE MADE
In reaching his finding of "gross negligence," Barbier said BP
employees misread a safety test, and that the company was
responsible for their actions. He listed a series of what he
described as negligent acts, including mistakes in drilling the
final 100 feet of the Macondo well. All these acts together, he
said, constituted a "conscious disregard of known risks."
Legal experts said that under this definition, companies would have
to be more careful about numerous everyday safety decisions that
together could add up to gross negligence if they resulted in a
disaster of a similar scale.
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"It's sort of like if the cops stop me once, it's only a
misdemeanor, but if the cops stop me enough times, a misdemeanor
turns into felony," said Blaine LeCesne, a civil procedure professor
at the Loyola University College of law. "If that holds, that is a
seismic development in tort law."
Under the U.S. Clean Water Act, fines for "gross negligence" can be
up to $4,300 per barrel of oil spilled, almost quadruple the limit
on an act of simple "negligence" of $1,100 per barrel. In other
industries, judges and regulators may also weigh the degree of
negligence when considering civil penalties.
Barbier's ruling said the inherent risks in deep-water drilling
require a higher standard of care in this industry because of the
huge potential harm.
Stephen Colville, president of the International Association of
Drilling Contractors, declined comment on the BP ruling but said
companies have been firming up safety practices in the wake of the
Deepwater Horizon spill.
But outside observers said the ruling poses new challenges.
"It sends a very cautionary message to the oil industry," said
Joseph Lavitt and expert on insurance law at the University of
California, Berkeley law school.
(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Eric Effron and David
Gregorio)
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