Yesterday’s settlement “could and should have placed greater weight on the
environmental damages that occurred,” said David Uhlmann, a law professor at
the University of Michigan and former prosecutor at the Department of
Justice.
Although the deal is a significant one, BP faces more hurdles and fines. A
trial to judge the civil claims for damages from the US government and the
Gulf states is due to start in February in New Orleans. BP has said it is
not prepared to settle at any price, but it will also want to avoid the
publicity of a lengthy trial.
Before the 2010 spill, BP’s biggest environmental and human disaster in the US
was an explosion at its Texas City refinery in 2005 that killed 15 people.
BP sold that refinery last month. But the company has no intention – nor
cannot it afford to – of leaving the US.
So Americans can expect more television adverts pledging BP’s commitment to
the US as the company battles to win back public opinion.
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