U.S. federal court rejects BP efforts to end oil spill pay-outs
A federal court in the U.S. has rejected BP requests to halt payments over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The oil company said many claims filed were fictitious.
A new study by NOAA and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) found that controlled burns released more than one million pounds of sooty black carbon into the atmosphere.
U.S. Coast Guard photo
The Fifth Circuit Court also said an earlier injunction that halted payments to firms claiming should now be lifted. The court even went as far as saying that the agreement for settlements was that any claimant does not need to produce evidence that their claim arose as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
BP has said it disagrees with the US Court of Appeal ruling after it denied its request for a permanent injunction preventing certain payments under the
Economic and Property Damages Settlement it reached in 2012.
BP had agreed to pay out to businesses and individuals who suffered economic hardship as a result of the disaster aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig, which saw 11 workers killed and four million barrels of oil pour into the the gulf. Monday's decision from the court in New Orleans is a huge setback for BP, reports
Reuters.
Figures released on Monday showed that roughly
$3.84 billion had been paid out to 42,272 claimants. On February 4, BP upped its pay out estimates to $9.2 billion, but said this figure could now grow "significantly higher."
