BP has begun a court case to investigate further their role in the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico. Not only will the health and safety and environmental issues be deliberated in a British criminal court, but also civil compensation claims from their employees and local residents. Terry Mcalister of the Guardian newspaper reported that:
“BP has already paid out $3.5bn (£2.2bn) in compensation claims linked to the incident, and some have estimated the final bill could be as high as $70bn.”
It is though that employees will be seeking compensation for accidents at work whilst local residents and businesses may be making compensation claims for personal injury, loss of earnings and destruction of property while BP attempt to find a resolution to the oil spill.
It has been determined already that 47 people were injured and 11 killed in the blast that led to the oil spill but what is yet unknown is how many local homes and businesses will suffer from both the short and long term implications of this still ongoing crisis. Leroy Jones, a local oyster farmer spoke of the impact that the BP oil spill has had upon his livelihood:
“It’s wild. …. It feels like 100 pounds of stress is added every day.”
Although Mr Jones claims that oyster fishing can produce up to $1700 per day, it is believed that compensation from BP will not reflect such a figure, when it eventually starts to settle claims with Leroy Jones and many others in a similar situation.
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