BP Oil Spill Case Nears Trial, Part 1
February 21st, 2012 tmccoy
With the giant BP oil spill case beginning trial on February 27th, United States District Court Judge Carl Barbier has taken control of the litigation in a determined fashion. Sitting in New Orleans, the site of the trial, Judge Barbier has split the trial into three phases. The first will answer the question as to who is liable for the spill. This first phase will last probably through May and, as you might expect, there will be thousands of exhibits at lots of witnesses.
Each of the defendants, including BP, is blaming the other for the death of the 11 workers, the spill which topped 4.4 million barrels of oil, and the over 200,000 metric tons of methane gas that was released into the Gulf of Mexico. After this phase is over, the next two will begin. They will address the spill of oil itself, the control of the spill and the failure to contain the spill. Judge Barbier, in an effort to prevent things from getting out of hand, has even gone so far as to give each lawyer a specific time limit on the opening day of trial for an opening statement and added more trial tables and chairs to accommodate the attorneys. Even the press has been provided for, with two added press rooms.
One party that won’t be there for opening day will be Weatherford International, the company which supplied the collar on the well. The judge has already ruled that the collar was not defective and did not cause the well to explode, dismissing the case against Weatherford ten days ago.
