Should Gulf oil spill dispersant, clean-up companies stay in the litigation?

April 3, 2012

The manufacturer of the chemical dispersant used to break-up the oil during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 and other companies involved in cleaning up the oil have asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to dismiss them from liability for any health claims because they were working on behalf of the U.S. government in responding to the spill and are entitled to immunity. If successful, the move could remove more than a dozen companies from potential liability if people get sick.

But at the same time, the question comes as BP and the committee of plaintiff attorneys steering the litigation have reached an agreement that includes a deal for BP to cover the health bills for clean-up workers and people who live very close to the shore or oiled marshes.

Barbier had entertained such requests last year, but determined that it wasn't the right time for the court to consider those questions. So over the past five months, the parties to the litigation over the BP oil spill have exchanged thousands of pages of documents to get ready to explore that question.

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