BP’s bitter court battle over the 2010 Macondo oil spill has taken another twist after the oil giant launched a lawsuit against a Louisiana regulator.
The company, which goes back to court over liability for the Gulf of Mexico disaster next week, has filed against the state’s department of natural resources after it was ordered to retrieve anchors lost or buried during the clean-up.
Although many of the anchors used to hold the boom lines capturing the spilled oil were retrieved, several others were lost or buried in the seabed.
BP says it cannot do retrieve them, as federal law prohibits retrieving ‘orphan anchors’, and the Coast Guard has warned that to do so would damage the environment.
The lawsuit, filed in Baton Rouge last night, marks the latest battle between the oil giant and authorities over the disaster, which is set to cost BP close to $10billion in compensation payouts alone.
Yesterday Halliburton was fined £200,000 for destroying data relating to the spill.
The second phase of the liability trial will begin on September 30, with the court considering the amount of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico as it assigns damages.
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