(Reuters) – Companies linked to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill are facing a flood of lawsuits, as legal actions from the disaster spread faster than the crude gushing from BP Plc’s blown-out undersea well.
Nearly 100 lawsuits have already been filed across the Gulf region, and the disaster, which lawyers envision becoming one of the biggest class actions in U.S. history, involves billions of dollars in potential liabilities.
“This is not just an environmental disaster, this is a legal disaster, Alabama Attorney General Troy King told reporters on Wednesday.
“It seems clear that this one will eclipse the Exxon Valdez payout,” said Zygmunt J.B. Plater, who chaired a legal task force for a special commission in Alaska following the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill there in 1989.
“The hit in terms of economics is going to be measurable and it’s going to be greater,” said Plater, a law professor at Boston College, who noted that the population and levels of investment along the Gulf coast dwarfed those at stake in remote Alaska more than 20 years ago.
BP is the most exposed to potential damages in the case. The London-based oil giant is the owner of the ruptured undersea well spewing out oil at an unchecked rate of about 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 liters) per day.
The resulting oil slick threatens fisheries, beaches and wildlife refuges — and livelihoods — along the Gulf Coast.
Other companies involved in the spill include Transocean Ltd, owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig licensed to BP, and Halliburton Co, which provided a variety of services on the rig and was involved in cementing the well to stabilize its walls.
Families of some of the 11 workers who died in the April 20 Deepwater Horizon rig blast have filed wrongful-death claims, and people who were injured have also taken legal action.
The companies also face lawsuits brought by fishermen, restaurants, charter boat companies, hotels and rental property owners. Gulf Coast states could also sue, as could municipalities, for lost tax revenues, and shipping companies if traffic into major ports or the Mississippi River is disrupted.
(Additional reporting by Kelli Dugan in Mobile, Alabama; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Paul Simao)
