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By P.J. Huffstutter
May 18 (Reuters) - Texas has joined the crowd of Gulf ofMexico states to file suit against BP Plc, Halliburton Co and others for their role in one of the worst oil spillsin U.S. history.
The complaint, filed Friday in U.S. District Court inBeaumont, Texas, alleges that the companies and others "engagedin willful and wanton misconduct" for their role in the 2010Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The state has accused the firms - as well as Transocean, Anadarko and BP America in its suit - ofviolating Texas' environmental regulations. Texas is seekingmoney from "lost" tourism revenues due to the spill, as well asmonies that would have been generated from state park entranceand concession fees by visitors to the coastal communities.
In addition, the state is seeking civil penalties for eachday the oil spilled into the Gulf, and each barrel spilled intothe water, as compensation for natural resources that were"injured, destroyed or lost."
An estimated 4.9 million barrels were spilled, but BP hasargued that 800,000 barrels that were recovered should beexcluded from calculations for the purposes of any legalsettlement.
Texas joins four other states that have sued BP and othercompanies in connection to the spill: Florida and Mississippifiled complaints last month, while Alabama and Louisiana did in2010.
In April of 2010, a surge of methane gas known to rig handsas a "kick" sparked an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizonrig that killed 11 people. The vessel sank two days later.London-based BP was the majority owner and operator of theMacondo well and Swiss-based Transocean Ltd owned the rig, whichwas drilling the mile(1.6 km)-deep well in the Gulf of Mexicooff Louisiana's coast.
BP also is fighting a court battle in New Orleans over finesand other potential spill liabilities, but it struck a deal lastyear with a wide range of compensation claimants, includingbusinesses.
The total amount was not set, and BP has set aside over $8billion to make the payments, but it now sees those businesseconomic loss (BEL) payments escalating, and is challenging theway they are being calculated - calling some of the claims"fictitious" and "absurd."
It has already lost one appeal to have the payments stoppedand now plans to go to a higher court.
Texas' lawsuit is State of Texas v. BP Exploration &Production Inc., 13-cv-00315, U.S. District Court, EasternDistrict of Texas.
