BATON ROUGE, LA. – A federal judge ruled Thursday that BP was guilty of causing the nation’s worst offshore oil spill because of gross negligence and willful misconduct.
So far BP has already agreed to pay $13.7 billion, which also includes $9.2 billion in vitim settlement claims. Because of the new ruling, the amount of civil penalties the company has to pay out could quadruple.
U.S District Judge Carl Barbier said BP should take 67% of the blame, drilling owner Transocean Ltd. is responsible for 30%, and cement contractor Halliburton Energy Service should be responsible for 3%.
