BP settlement is the buzz of the town! BP as all of us are aware is one of the most reputable oil tycoons. But it is also associated with one of the worst oil spills that hit Gulf of Mexico in the year 2010. It is one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of US. Over 100000 people were affected and the company has been involved in a lawsuit since then. Beaches were spoilt and wild life was damaged as part of the environmental damage.
The BP settlement comes delayed
The BP settlement has come delayed as most of the people who were affected were fighting for their claims for two years now. The BP settlement will cost the company around $7.8 billion and the company hopes that the fund of the victims led by Ken Feinberg will halt their claims. But the question arises if the people are ready to accept this settlement because they have been fighting for justice since a long time. Instead of this BP settlement they may directly claim for money from BP. If the company denies then they can sue them and pull them to the court once again. The Justice Department in US has specifically said that this is only a beginning of the journey of the BP settlement and graver issues are yet to arise. The United States has agreed to closely consider the causes of the five so called Gulf States who have accused BP for damaging the natural resources too. They will also have to pay the damage claims that arose of the disaster that is still recalled as the worst in the history of US. The BP settlement claim will engulf the fees of all the plaintiff lawyers who have been fighting for the cause of the people of the Gulf. In spite of delayed results this is surely welcome news for all those who have been fighting for the cause.
The Feinberg fund
The Feinberg fund was created in August the same year the oil spill took place. Since then it has been taking care of the interest of all those affected by this oil spill. Apart from the people they have also been taking care of the interests of the state for the environmental pollution. But after the news of BP settlement, the fund will have to find a basis of distributing the money because while some engaged lawyers, many did not hire lawyers since the fund was looking after their concern. Moreover they have to also find adequate terms to pay off the local and state response costs from the same BP settlement.
The BP settlement comes as one of the largest class action settlements. The nearest contender is the disaster of Exxon Valdez of 1989 that offered a settlement of one billion that would be valued as $1.8 billion in today’s market.
The disaster brought in havoc on the local fishermen who lost their work on account of the destruction of the wildlife. The clean-up people who were engaged got very sick and many have permanent damages. The BP settlement will surely offer hope for these people.