Justice Dept. Sues BP, Others Over Spill

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday that the Justice Department filed a civil suit against BP and eight other companies. The suit is the result of an investigation begun just after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 people and starting the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The suit also names BP Exploration and Production Inc., Anadarko Exploration & Production LP, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC, Triton Asset Leasing GMBH, Transocean Holdings LLC, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., Transocean Deepwater Inc. and QBE Underwriting Ltd./Lloyds Syndicate 1036 as defendants. The Justice Department claims those companies failed to take necessary precautions to secure the Macondo Well prior to the explosion, failed to utilize the safest drilling technology to monitor the wells condition, failed to maintain continuous surveillance of the well and failed to utilize and maintain equipment and materials that were available and necessary to ensure the safety and protection of personnel, property, natural resources and the environment.

"We intend to prove that these violations caused or contributed to this massive oil spill, and that the defendants are therefore responsible under the Oil Pollution Act for government removal costs, economic losses, and environmental damages.

We are also seeking civil penalties under the Clean Water Act, which prohibits the unauthorized discharge of oil into the nations waters. We allege that the defendants named in this lawsuit were in violation of the Act throughout the months that oil was gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. And we intend to hold them fully accountable for their violations of the law," Holder said.