Alabama Injury Attorneys Blog

BP announced today that the cost of their company's response to the oil spill has reached $1.25 billion. In a news release this morning, British Petroleum stated that this figure does not include the $360 million allotted to build sand berms to stop the spread of oil seeping into Louisiana's wetland. That rate of spending is expected to increase for some time.

Millions of gallons of crude oil have already spilled into the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon Rig exploded back in April, killing 11 workers. The news broadcast aired just after the government point man warned that the battle to contain the oil would likely continue into the fall.

According to reports, most of the money is going to clean up and containment efforts; however, a small portion has been applied to what is believed to be the early stages of legal costs. Already some 130 lawsuits have been filed. According to BP, 37,000 claims have been submitted so far and more than 18,000 payments totaling $48 million have been paid to those affected by the oil spill. BP has reportedly also paid $170 million to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi to help with their responses. These numbers do not included the several billion dollars that could be paid out in settlements to the families of the 11 killed and 17 injured on the Deepwater Horizon Rig.

Analysts predict the long term cost to BP could be in the tens of billions of dollars, and the economic disaster could potentially take years to clean up. Aside from financial obligations that BP is facing, they also face though civil and criminal investigations by the U.S. government.

After the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the U.S. government enacted The Oil and Pollution Act of 1990, imposing strict liability and monetary penalties on each barrel of oil spilled. Similarly, the Clear Water Act carries criminal and civil charges for polluting waterways.