Caldwell
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) - Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has filed a federal lawsuit seeking $1 million from BP and partner companies for every day that oil was spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.
The suit seeks declaratory relief "as to certain Defendants' unlimited, joint and several liability and responsibility for all removal costs and damages to the under (the Oil Pollution Act) and (the Louisiana Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act)."
The Deepwater Horizon oilrig explosion and subsequent oil spill which fouled Louisiana's coastlines "were caused by the acts, omissions, fault, negligence, gross negligence, reckless, willful and wanton behavior, and/or breach of federal and state laws," the suit claims.
The 38-page complaint was filed March 3 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Caldwell filed the complaint separately from the multidistrict litigation surrounding the BP oil spill but it still has been assigned to BP MDL Judge Carl Barbier and Magistrate Judge Sally Shushan.
Recently, Caldwell took issue at Barbier's decision to appoint a liaison counsel for state and federal government's interests.
Caldwell, along with several other Gulf State attorneys general, have also claimed that Gulf Coast Claims Facility is a violation of OPA.