In a bombshell federal court filing, U.S. government lawyers are slamming British Petroleum for making false and misleading statements that seek to both dodge blame for 2010-s Deepwater Horizon catastrophe and ignore the ongoing environmental devastation, from diseased dolphins to destroyed wetlands.
The papers filed late last week by the U.S. Justice Department’s top environmental lawyers and New Orleans U.S. Attorney Jim Letten charge that BP’s effort to show the fairness of a proposed $7.8 billion settlement with thousands of Gulf Coast residents and businesses harmed by the spill is instead larded with falsehoods.
And the feds are not alone in accusing BP of going over the line in trying to justify the pending $8.7 billion settlement. In a separate filing, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange also accuses the oil company of misrepresentation and argues that BP committed “willful misconduct” by attempting a risky “top kill” method to stop the 2010 spill, when it knew that method would fail.
READ THE ENTIRE PRESS RELEASE FROM ENVIRONMENTAL ATTORNEY STUART SMITH HERE: