The BP oil spill at the Deepwater Horizon rig in 2010 has already cost the oil giant upwards of $42 billion, and now the firm is fighting back.
BP still owes billions of dollars in unpaid claims, and the company says those bills include “inflated” rates and in some cases “do not even exist.”
The BP oil spill on Wednesday led the firm to take out a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal , the New York Times, and the Washington Post . In the ad, the company writes:
“Whatever you think about BP, we can all agree that it’s wrong for anyone to take money they don’t deserve.”
The ad then also claims that US district judge Carl Barbier’s ruling “interprets the settlement in a way no one intended.”
BP then says that the payouts it is now giving out are going to businesses that didn’t even suffer from spill-related losses.
When the BP oil spill occurred, 11 workers were killed and millions of barrels’ worth of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Public sentiment ranged from confusion to outward anger. Shortly after the oil spill, the company promised to remedy the situation. That remedy ultimately included repaying various industries in the area from fisherman and hotel owners to various other businesses who lost out on millions of dollars from tourists and production cuts.
In supporting its claims from the recent full page ad, BP documents show that one rice mill located 40 miles from the coast received a $21 million payout. The rice mill payout arrived despite the fact that it claimed its highest revenue in three years.
If BP wins its July 8 appeal, company’s like the rice mill in Louisiana will be forced to pay back their false claims of loss revenue.
Do you think false claims regarding the BP oil spill should be paid back to the company?
