Remarks
BP Is Still Paying for the Deepwater Horizon Spill
Two wins for Walmart show the extent of the oil giant’s liability.
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BP Exploration et al. v. Claimant ID 100354107
Cases #18-31115 and 31275
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil well, operated by BP Plc in the Gulf of Mexico, suffered an enormous explosion, killing 11 workers and spewing 130 million gallons of oil. Knowing it would soon be inundated with lawsuits, the company quickly set up a settlement fund and hired Ken Feinberg to administer it. Over the next two years, Feinberg paid out $6.1 billion to 220,000 claimants, thus avoiding thousands of suits. But he also turned down many claims on the grounds that the claimants hadn’t shown they had been damaged by the accident. This didn’t make the plaintiffs’ bar happy.