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On April 20, 2010, an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon, a drilling rig leased by the oil company BP, set off a blaze that killed 11 crew members. Two days later, it sank about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast and crude oil began streaming out of a broken pipe attached to a well that the rig had been drilling nearly a mile below sea level. Attempts to shut down the flow, at first estimated that at about 42,000 gallons of oil a day, failed when a safety device called a blowout preventer could not be activated. On April 28, government officials said the oil was leaking at a rate five times greater than the initial estimates. As BP and federal officials scramble for solutions, oil closes in on the fragile Louisiana coast and drifted toward the shores of Alabama and Florida. On May 2, President Obama visited the scene of what he called a “potentially unprecedented environmental disaster.”
Once the oil comes ashore, there is the risk of damage to some of the nation’s most delicate ecosystems, like wetlands sheltering everything from pelicans to crabs to fragile grasses. Yet the spill also threatens fish and anything else that feeds on plankton that floats on gulf waters. The gulf fishing industry is crucial to hundreds of thousands of jobs, but it is not clear how large an area will be hit by the spill and therefore shut down to fishing. Already thousands of workers have been idled because coastal Louisiana east of the Mississippi River has been closed down.
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Seeger Weiss has helped to found the BP Oil Spill Legal Network, a national coalition of lawyers with the experience necessary to assist you in recovering the losses you have or will suffer from the April 20, 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
This oil spill, and the inability of BP to contain it, has resulted in, and will continue to cause, significant damage to properties, fisheries, and natural resources located along the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The BP Oil Spill Legal Network is fully prepared to pursue your claims for economic loss and seek prompt recovery from BP, other responsible parties, and, if necessary, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund established by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA”). Learn more at the BP Oil Spill Legal Network website.
Seeger Weiss LLP is investigating claims of environmental damage and loss of income in communities affected by the Gulf oil spill. If you have been adversely affected by the Gulf oil spill, contact us and an experienced attorney with Seeger Weiss LLP will assist you in evaluating your claim. Attorney consultations incur no obligation on your part and all initial consultations are free of charge. Seeger Weiss LLP has office locations in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Oklahoma and California.