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Texas joins flood of states suing BP

Washington, May 19, 2013

Texas has joined the crowd of Gulf of Mexico states to file suit against BP, Halliburton and others for their role in one of the worst oil spills in the US history.

The complaint in US District Court in Beaumont, Texas, alleges that the companies and others "engaged in willful and wanton misconduct" for their role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The state has accused the firms - as well as Transocean , Anadarko and BP America in its suit - of violating Texas' environmental regulations. Texas is seeking money from "lost" tourism revenues due to the spill, as well as monies that would have been generated from state park entrance and concession fees by visitors to the coastal communities.

In addition, the state is seeking civil penalties for each day the oil spilled into the Gulf, and each barrel spilled into the water, as compensation for natural resources that were "injured, destroyed or lost."

An estimated 4.9 million barrels were spilled, but BP has argued that 800,000 barrels that were recovered should be excluded from calculations for the purposes of any legal settlement.

Texas joins four other states that have sued BP and other companies in connection to the spill: Florida and Mississippi filed complaints last month, while Alabama and Louisiana did in 2010. - Reuters
 




Tags: BP | US | Texas | oil spill |

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