US Oil
Spill
 |
| The disaster was the worst US offshore oil spill |
The US
Justice Department has accused BP of "gross negligence and wilful
misconduct" over the Deepwater Horizon disaster, claims which BP deny.
The
allegations came in papers filed in the federal court in New Orleans.
The
Deepwater Horizon rig had been leased by BP. It exploded on 20 April 2010,
killing 11 workers and spilling millions of gallons of crude oil.
If the
government can prove gross negligence it can triple the damages BP may have to
pay to $21bn (£13bn).
The case is
due to go to trial in New Orleans in January 2013, although talks are underway
between BP and the US government to try to settle the claims.
"The
behaviour, words, and actions of these BP executives would not be tolerated in
a middling size company manufacturing dry goods for sale in a suburban
mall," the government said in its 39-page filing.
BP has
denied the claims. "BP believes it was not grossly negligent and looks
forward to presenting evidence on this issue at trial in January," the
company said in a statement.
Transocean,
the Swiss-based company that owned the rig, declined to comment, the Reuters
news agency said.
The legal
filing said that errors made by BP and Transocean in deciphering a pressure
test on the well supported the government's case.
"That
such a simple, yet fundamental and safety-critical test could have been so
stunningly, blindingly botched in so many ways, by so many people, demonstrates
gross negligence," it said.
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