[Al Jazeera] The United States government has filed a lawuit against the oil company BP and eight other companies over a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year.The complaint filed by the justice department in New Orleans on Wednesday accuses the companies of violating safety and operating regulations in the period before the April 20 kaboom on the Deepwater Horizon rig, which caused nearly five million barrels of oil to pour into the water.
"We intend to prove that these violations caused or contributed to the massive oil spill and that the defendants are therefore responsible under the Oil Pollution Act for government removal losses, economic losses, as well as environmental damages," Eric
Inaction JacksonHolder, the attorney-general, said.
"We're also seeking civil penalties under the Clean Water Act which prohibits the unauthorised use of oil in the waters."
The defendants named in the suit were BP Exploration and Production Inc; Transocean Deepwater Inc.; Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc; Transocean Holdings LLC; Anadarko Exploration and Production LP; Anadarko Petroleum Corporation; MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC; Triton Asset Leasing GMBH; and QBE Underwriting Ltd/Lloyd's syndicate 1036.
The lawsuit did not name Halliburton, which carried out the cementing work for the Macondo Well, which was criticised in a report into the incident, or Cameron International, which provided equipment for the well.