Justice Deparment Files Lawsuit Against BP & Others Over Oil Spill..

[Obama 2012 1,714]

This is such horse #######. While the rig companies are partially responsible, the Feds are just as responsible since the inspectors were paid off. What about that responsibility? It's truly a load of ####### that it goes ignored and those individuals aren't being fined/penalized or aren't in jail for their actions....

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704828104576021762008860814.html

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Justice Department filed a civil oil-spill lawsuit Wednesday against a BP PLC unit and several other companies, the federal government's first major legal action in the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

The other defendants are subsidiaries of Transocean Ltd., which owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon oil rig; Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and MOEX Offshore 2007, which had financial stakes in the oil well; and QBE Underwriting Ltd./Lloyd's Syndicate 1036, a BP insurer.

Halliburton Co., which designed and pumped the cement used in the well, wasn't named in the lawsuit.

The government's civil claims, filed in a New Orleans federal court, seek penalties and damages under the Oil Pollution Act and the Clean Water Act.

Notably, the Justice Department is seeking to hold some defendants liable without limitation under the Oil Pollution Act for oil-spill-removal costs and other damages, including damages to natural resources.

The lawsuit doesn't put a price tag on the amount of damage caused by the spill. A total assessment of damages to natural resources could take years.

The government is also seeking civil penalties under the Clean Water Act that could total billions of dollars. The act allows the U.S. to seek as much as $1,100 per barrel spilled, and even higher penalties in cases of gross negligence.

A government-led group estimated that 4.9 million barrels gushed out of the well, though some of it was captured. BP has said privately that the flow rate may have been 20% to 50% less.

The Justice Department's legal complaint follows an array of private-party lawsuits filed in the wake of the April 20 oil-rig explosion, which killed 11 people and produced the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The Justice Department alleged in its complaint that important safety and operating regulations were violated in the period leading up to the spill. The department said defendants failed to take necessary precautions to keep the well under control leading up to the explosion and failed to use the best available technology to monitor the well's conditions.

The defendants also failed to maintain continuous surveillance and use the best equipment to protect workers, equipment and the environment, the Justice Department said.

The lawsuit will be consolidated in the multidistrict litigation that is pending before a New Orleans federal judge.

Unlike the other defendants, QBE isn't being sued under the Clean Water Act, and it can be held liable under the Oil Pollution Act only up to the amount of its insurance policy with BP, the department said.

The department has been conducting criminal and civil investigations into the oil-spill disaster.

Additional defendants and charges could be added at a later date, a Justice Department official said.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You should write an apology to BP et al.

[james&olya 1,121]

The big oil companies can do no wrong, our government, which acts on the behalf of the citizens, can do no right? I smell the horse ####### also but I disagree about where it comes from! The oil companies cannot absolve their responsibility by claiming that they were inadequately regulated and monitored by the government. The rules and responsibilities seem fairly clear and the apparent negligence has been widely reported. If the court confirms what the public has already been told then the oil companies are liable! The only question I have is why you feel such a need to hurry to their defense? You obviously are with the party that finds its mission to comfort the comfortable and to afflict the afflicted!

[Ban Hammer 13,334]

[Obama 2012 1,714]

The big oil companies can do no wrong, our government, which acts on the behalf of the citizens, can do no right? I smell the horse ####### also but I disagree about where it comes from! The oil companies cannot absolve their responsibility by claiming that they were inadequately regulated and monitored by the government. The rules and responsibilities seem fairly clear and the apparent negligence has been widely reported. If the court confirms what the public has already been told then the oil companies are liable! The only question I have is why you feel such a need to hurry to their defense? You obviously are with the party that finds its mission to comfort the comfortable and to afflict the afflicted!

I said they were responsible, but I am saying that the regulators were responsible too. They had a duty to make sure everything was in proper order before giving a green light. Just as a business cannot stay open that fails a city fire inspection...

[james&olya 1,121]

I said they were responsible, but I am saying that the regulators were responsible too. They had a duty to make sure everything was in proper order before giving a green light. Just as a business cannot stay open that fails a city fire inspection...

I apologize for my misunderstanding of your point. I am glad to hear that you endorse the concept of and need for effective government regulation of corporate interests to protect the individual and collective rights of the citizenry!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The oil companies cannot absolve their responsibility by claiming that they were inadequately regulated and monitored by the government.

Exactly. It's almost sick to hear such ridiculous argument. Here you've got Big Oil fighting tooth and nail over any piece of regulation that is ever proposed and fighting tooth and nail to repeal as much of existing regulation as they can. Then you have them go out and bribe the regulators so they turn a blind eye. Shite hits the fan and then they want to point fingers at the regulators for not doing their job? I wanna puke.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Exactly. It's almost sick to hear such ridiculous argument. Here you've got Big Oil fighting tooth and nail over any piece of regulation that is ever proposed and fighting tooth and nail to repeal as much of existing regulation as they can. Then you have them go out and bribe the regulators so they turn a blind eye. Shite hits the fan and then they want to point fingers at the regulators for not doing their job? I wanna puke.

The oil industry is one of the most regulated industries out there. Ask an oil worker to recite the regulations for his job and he'll be able to do it.

Regulation means squat when the regulators can be bought off easily. That is a failure of government. You cannot have regulations unless they are going to be enforced.

No one is saying that there's no fault on the companies themselves, but at the end of the day, these rigs would NOT have been operational if it weren't with a seal of approval from government regulators first.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Regulation means squat when the regulators can be bought off easily.

The mere attempt to do so by the regulated industries should land them in hot water. It's a criminal offense. Any result of such criminal activity falls squarely on the perp.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

The mere attempt to do so by the regulated industries should land them in hot water. It's a criminal offense. Any result of such criminal activity falls squarely on the perp.

That's a load of ####### and you know it.

You're making the same argument as the parents with the fat kids. "McDonalds advertised, so now I have no control." That's a cop-out and complete #######.

Government's job is to protect the people. Sometimes that comes in the form of regulations like the ones on the oil industry. If an oil drilling rig cannot go LIVE until it's approved by a government regulator, then the regulator who signs off on the safety inspections is giving a government seal of approval that this met any and all safety expectations....

Yes, the companies did wrong, but that government agent and the agencies have their jobs to do which is paid for by the taxpayers. Failure to do their jobs properly can lead to incidents like we've seen.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

That's a load of ####### and you know it.

You're making the same argument as the parents with the fat kids. "McDonalds advertised, so now I have no control."

Not really. If a person or entity bribes a government official, it's the person or entity engaging in the bribing and the person accepting the bribe - not the government agency which that person works for - that are criminally liable. I have yet to see a police department, for example, be held responsible for the bad apple within that department that has engaged in bribery.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Not really. If a person or entity bribes a government official, it's the person or entity engaging in the bribing and the person accepting the bribe - not the government agency which that person works for - that are criminally liable. I have yet to see a police department, for example, be held responsible for the bad apple within that department that has engaged in bribery.

This was an apparent issue for this agency though from what was initially seen. Hell, they even re-named the agency to try and save face.

Either way, those agents also need to be held accountabl here. They shouldn't be able to walk free after what they did and have all the blame sit with the companies. After all, it was their decision to take perks/payoffs and to ignore blatent safety violations.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Either way, those agents also need to be held accountable here.

Any government agent that engages in misconduct of this sort absolutely ought to be held accountable.