Somebody ought to remind BP’s CEO, Tony Hayward, of that. On May 5, 16 days after the huge blast in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20 that sank BP’s offshore oil rig, Deepwater Horizon, Hayward had this to say to The Times of London about lawsuits he expected victims to file: “This is America. Many of the claims will be illegitimate.”
We’ve been free of British rule since we declared independence in 1776 and fought a war against England to make it stick. Our constitution says victims of the massive oil spill that threatens to foul the Gulf of Mexico for 20 years have legal rights. There’s nothing “illegitimate” about suing BP.
Rig workers and their families, fishermen, business owners, those with physical injuries and the families of the dead, deserve compensation. A quick look at BP’s safety record justifies filing suit. In 2005, BP’s Texas City Refinery exploded, killing 15 workers and injuring at least 170, according to a CBS News investigative report on 60 Minutes. Court records showed that BP was skimping on safety measures then although it made a $19 billion profit the year before. The Deepwater Horizon explosion killed 11 and injured scores of others. Evidence surfacing now raises serious questions about the company’s safety record on the rig.
While government investigators and the companies involved — Transocean Ltd., which owned the rig, BP, which leased and operated the rig, and Halliburton, Inc. which tried sealing the well just before the explosion — attempt to grasp what caused it, one thing is certain: Victims deserve justice after what some are calling the worst oil rig disaster in American history. America’s courts are the place to get it.
The April 20, 2010 oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles south of New Orleans, is being called the worst off-shore oil platform disaster in history. Flames from the rig could be seen 70 miles away. Of the 126 souls aboard the platform when disaster struck, 11 are still missing. Working on off-shore rigs is often called the most dangerous job in America, even more dangerous than coal mining. Any number of things can go wrong on a floating platform like Transocean Corporation’s MODU Deepwater Horizon, leaving workers scant time to escape a catastrophic explosion and fire. Protection for workers often comes after the fact, once some are killed or injured.
But a tough federal law backs their claims for compensation. It’s known as the Jones Act. It was passed in 1920. This maritime law covers workers on the rig, on boats and helicopters transporting them to and from rigs and on the ground in cars headed for ports or airports to catch rides to the rig. The explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon is a national tragedy. While no immediate comfort is available for families who lost loved ones in the disaster or who are dealing with critical injuries, it is important to know that tough federal law will back their claims for just compensation. While that statute is complex, requiring an attorney experienced in maritime law, its provisions account for the danger involved in the work.
Industrial explosions hit like bombs, killing in nanoseconds. The worst blast in U.S. history happened 40 miles south of Houston in 1947 when a ship chartered by the U.S. government that was loaded with ammonium nitrate blew up at a dock in Texas City. A second ship loaded with the chemical also exploded.
Hundreds Died in Disaster
The blasts killed 581 and injured hundreds. They knocked people 10 miles away in Galveston to their knees. Windows 40 miles north in Houston shattered. The blast was felt in Louisiana, 250 miles from the explosion site. Victims filed the first class action lawsuit in history against the United States government. But the courts held that it was not liable for the disaster.
Lawyers Win Millions For Victims, Benefit Public
Today, as lawyers win large wrongful death settlements and injury settlements for victims, they are also reaping big benefits for the general public. David Michaels, a professor at George Washington University’s School of Public Health who heads its Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy, says the huge settlements show “the power of litigation” to force safe practices on factories. He says the massive 2005 BP explosion and fire in Texas City that killed 15, Injured 180 and damaged property a quarter of a mile away is a case in point.
OSHA Fines Not Enough
OSHA fined British Petroleum $21 million after the explosion. But a company with annual revenues of more than $22 billion can easily shrug off such amounts, Michaels says. The refinery, one of the largest in the United States, had been cited for numerous safety violations in the years leading up to the 2005 explosion, but made few, if any, improvements. Now after setting aside $1.6 billion to settle victim lawsuits, it has finally allocated $1 billion to make safety improvements to the plant.
The April 20, 2010 oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles south of New Orleans, is being called the worst off-shore oil platform disaster in history. Flames from the rig could be seen 70 miles away. Of the 126 souls aboard the platform when disaster struck, 11 are still missing. Working on off-shore rigs is often called the most dangerous job in America, even more dangerous than coal mining. Any number of things can go wrong on a floating platform like Transocean Corporation’s MODU Deepwater Horizon, leaving workers scant time to escape a catastrophic explosion and fire. Protection for workers often comes after the fact, once some are killed or injured.