Deepwater Horizon was an oil platform built in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 50 miles from the Louisiana coast and the Mississippi River delta (Department of Justice). Deepwater Horizon was operated by the global petro-chemical giant British Petroleum. On April 20, 2010, the platform caught fire and exploded killing eleven workers on the platform. The explosion also significantly damaged the platform base and foundation. By April 22, the platform crumbed to the sea and sank. Consequently, the pipes the were pumping oil into the platform were severed and oil began flowing in the Gulf of Mexico. By the time that engineers were able to cap the pipes, five months had passed and millions of barrels of oil “had been discharged into the Gulf” reached the shores and caused “immense environmental and economic harm to the entire region” (Department of Justice). As a result, tens of thousands of tort claims, from commercial fisherman in Louisiana to charter boat companies in Key West have been filed against British Petroleum, arguing that because of the company’s negligence, they have suffered substantial economic harm (Wells). Ultimately British Petroleum has set aside several billions of dollars to settle these cases.
The focus of much of the tort claims, as mentioned, were aimed at British Petroleum. While the company is headquartered in the United Kingdom, its US operations were established under Delaware corporations law. Accordingly, while the US operations had the authority to operate independently, they were ultimately answerable to British leadership. According to a Department of Justice investigation, the U.S. leaderships’ management of Deepwater Horizon, was patently questionable. To be sure, the Department of Justice described the company of having “a culture of corporate recklessness” that included numerous internal discussions about the dangerousness of operations on Deepwater Horizon but a consistent and determined effort by the leadership to ignore the warnings and continue operations as normal (In Re: Oil Spill). Moreover, the Department of Justice further claimed that there was intentional or negligent failure to oversee U.S. operations by the British headquarters.
Works Cited
“Deepwater Horizon Inspections: MMS Skipped Monthly Inspections on Doomed Rig.” Huffington Post, 16 May, 2010. Web. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/16/deepwater-horizon-inspect_n_578079.html
“In Re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig ‘Deepwater Horizon’ in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010.” United States District Court for the East District of Louisiana, 31 Aug. 2012. Web. http://www.stuarthsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/7229-2.pdf
United States Department of Justice. “Complaint of the United States of America.” Justia, 15 Dec. 2010. Web. https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/louisiana/laedce/2:2010cv04536/144523/1/
Wells, Ken. “The Tort Lawyer and the BP Oil Disaster.” Bloomberg News, 28 May, 2010. Web. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-05-27/the-tort-lawyer-and-the-bp-oil-disaster
