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Analysis: New law on BP spill fines raises stakes for Gulf states

Reuters -- U.S. Gulf Coast states have a higher stake in the amount of money the U.S. government can wring out of BP Plc for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill due to a new law that would divert billions of dollars in potential BP fines to them.

The RESTORE Act, signed by President Barack Obama on July 6, directs that 80 percent of Clean Water Act penalties paid by BP be placed in a new trust fund for restoration efforts in the five coastal states damaged by the worst U.S. offshore oil spill: Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Texas.

BP faces billions of dollars in civil and criminal penalties from the April 20, 2010, explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 rig workers and unleashed 4.9 million barrels of oil that soiled the shorelines of four Gulf Coast states.

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Submitted Jul 15, 2012 By: Mudsprings

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cee68 Veteran Author Arizona Posts:434 Points:529,685 Joined:Jan 2011	Message Posted: Jul 20, 2012 7:05:48 AM Ignore cee68 Report Abuse k
honda0105 Champion Author Tallahassee Posts:18,818 Points:1,636,245 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Jul 18, 2012 5:06:01 AM Ignore honda0105 Report Abuse thanks for posting.
LetemEatCake Champion Author Oklahoma City Posts:5,667 Points:1,229,075 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Jul 16, 2012 10:21:17 PM Ignore LetemEatCake Report Abuse Good article. Totally agree Six Ball!
six_ball_man Champion Author Rochester Posts:8,677 Points:1,418,680 Joined:Oct 2007	Message Posted: Jul 16, 2012 1:32:03 PM Ignore six_ball_man Report Abuse Folks supporting the criminals at BP and drilling in the gulf in general must not like eating very much...or at least eating shrimp.
sparky808 Champion Author Honolulu Posts:3,139 Points:624,685 Joined:Sep 2011	Message Posted: Jul 16, 2012 12:33:28 PM Ignore sparky808 Report Abuse Thank you for posting.
coughlin Champion Author San Jose Posts:5,319 Points:1,144,365 Joined:Sep 2009	Message Posted: Jul 16, 2012 10:56:42 AM Ignore coughlin Report Abuse Imagine if it had been a company 'only' worth a couple of million dollars?
roadrunnin Champion Author Richmond Posts:1,801 Points:582,030 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 11:46:17 PM Ignore roadrunnin Report Abuse since they suffered the most, shouldn't they get the most restitution?
jimpeel Veteran Author Colorado Posts:462 Points:109,940 Joined:Mar 2005	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 11:38:09 PM Ignore jimpeel Report Abuse Enough money will fix anything. That's what the politicians will tell us -- right?
justmedc Veteran Author Michigan Posts:382 Points:174,495 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 11:31:08 PM Ignore justmedc Report Abuse money should go to fix and clean areas affected
NorthglennBill Champion Author Denver Posts:7,557 Points:1,498,670 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:59:41 PM Ignore NorthglennBill Report Abuse ...and the lawyers continue to make money. Lots of money.
hatterasjack Champion Author South Carolina Posts:1,316 Points:749,625 Joined:Sep 2007	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:57:36 PM Ignore hatterasjack Report Abuse These fines should go to cleaning up these kind of messes.
stopforgas All-Star Author Mississippi Posts:996 Points:495,480 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:57:15 PM Ignore stopforgas Report Abuse I keep reading responses from folks who say "leave BP alone, accidents happen, etc." Obviously they are not from the gulf coast or haven't seen the real impact of the oil spill. BP was blatantly negligent as was Halliburton. Not only should they pay restitution, they should should face punitive damages high enough to make them change policies and culture. I say hit them $100 billion dollars and make them think twice about disregarding common sense and risking more damage to the environment.
joel27nc Champion Author Raleigh Posts:10,672 Points:1,885,095 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:56:38 PM Ignore joel27nc Report Abuse Thanks BP
gsipper Champion Author Indianapolis Posts:1,123 Points:677,150 Joined:Dec 2010	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:56:14 PM Ignore gsipper Report Abuse Way to go BP.
jrsva Champion Author Virginia Posts:9,999 Points:1,639,950 Joined:Jan 2006	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:55:40 PM Ignore jrsva Report Abuse “The Government should leave BP alone. Accidents happen.” Wow, now there’s an idea . . . but not a good one. The Deepwater Horizon was an ‘accident’ waiting to happen. It is hard to call it an accident when it was largely due to incompetence and mismanagement. Profit first, Safety last was the motto.
bowler360 Champion Author Illinois Posts:2,105 Points:526,275 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:51:50 PM Ignore bowler360 Report Abuse good
sprocketsplines Champion Author Washington Posts:1,813 Points:888,060 Joined:Oct 2010	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:51:36 PM Ignore sprocketsplines Report Abuse Too often funds placed in trust are later misappropriated for other urgent needs.
bobdec Champion Author Miami Posts:9,104 Points:1,797,520 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:49:40 PM Ignore bobdec Report Abuse Fines will not deter the spills very much
SandeeC Champion Author Ontario Posts:3,124 Points:476,535 Joined:Apr 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:44:50 PM Ignore SandeeC Report Abuse The fines won't stop the spills... but it will help in clean-up costs. Wherever there's oil, spills will keep on happening. The answer is to put the money into ways to clean it up faster and better.
nomad228 Champion Author Columbus Posts:3,143 Points:580,215 Joined:Feb 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:44:02 PM Ignore nomad228 Report Abuse blah blah blah means people making claims to get ten times what their businesses were worth or would bring in during a great year. blah blah blah blah means driving a competittor out of business so another american company can buy their holdings on the cheap.yes the oil rig workers and their families should be paid restitution plus a life long stipen for the ones who lost their provider. blah blah blah means but i think bp has went above and beyond taking care of their responsibility for the spill and hopefully all of big earl will learn from their mistakes .
WinderGuy Champion Author Georgia Posts:2,965 Points:956,010 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:43:30 PM Ignore WinderGuy Report Abuse Ok
jessek Champion Author Detroit Posts:2,657 Points:1,280,490 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:43:30 PM Ignore jessek Report Abuse Hope it never happens again.
mstearno Champion Author Dayton Posts:8,174 Points:1,755,920 Joined:Jan 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:43:20 PM Ignore mstearno Report Abuse let's do more shallow drilling
DarthDadJr Champion Author Virginia Posts:7,427 Points:1,545,670 Joined:Jul 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:41:03 PM Ignore DarthDadJr Report Abuse Let's hope that this doesn't happen again...
fenster66 Champion Author Pittsburgh Posts:3,485 Points:700,815 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:39:45 PM Ignore fenster66 Report Abuse hope BP and Big Oil learn from this...
PDQBlues Champion Author San Diego Posts:7,209 Points:1,475,050 Joined:Jan 2009	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:38:39 PM Ignore PDQBlues Report Abuse Maybe next time these oil corporations will actually make safety a priority.
TheOneOkole Rookie Author Tucson Posts:61 Points:4,200 Joined:Jun 2012	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:35:53 PM Ignore TheOneOkole Report Abuse hmm, think about it
beachmanglen All-Star Author Tampa Posts:764 Points:519,925 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:34:21 PM Ignore beachmanglen Report Abuse The Government should leave BP alone. Accidents happen.
kd5kpd Champion Author Texas Posts:3,872 Points:1,443,450 Joined:Apr 2006	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:32:22 PM Ignore kd5kpd Report Abuse Good luck!!
naiiawah Champion Author Boise Posts:2,525 Points:716,700 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:32:19 PM Ignore naiiawah Report Abuse As it should be (where the money goes)!
drz614 Champion Author Harrisburg Posts:2,439 Points:625,320 Joined:Aug 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:32:00 PM Ignore drz614 Report Abuse ok
Amtrgas Champion Author Oakland Posts:2,678 Points:1,644,845 Joined:Dec 2007	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:30:09 PM Ignore Amtrgas Report Abuse I hope that the people who were effected, by the explosion and spill. Are the ones getting the money, and not the government.
WIPACKERFAN Champion Author Chicago Posts:8,939 Points:1,870,175 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:28:45 PM Ignore WIPACKERFAN Report Abuse OK
Harry813 Champion Author Iowa Posts:3,135 Points:688,365 Joined:Jul 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:27:24 PM Ignore Harry813 Report Abuse They have the $& to pay the fines.
rf6480 Champion Author Miami Posts:1,583 Points:569,785 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:23:16 PM Ignore rf6480 Report Abuse all politics. Why does there need to be another law? The spill happened they got fined spend the cleanup money where it's needed.
Dougieda Sophomore Author Boston Posts:129 Points:579,315 Joined:Dec 2010	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:22:43 PM Ignore Dougieda Report Abuse which they should
goldrose1 Champion Author Cleveland Posts:11,071 Points:1,949,605 Joined:Feb 2005	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:22:28 PM Ignore goldrose1 Report Abuse BP just writes it off.
DEG Champion Author Las Vegas Posts:17,745 Points:3,519,480 Joined:Jul 2003	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:22:17 PM Ignore DEG Report Abuse The government stealing from all of us to benefit a single region.
ratboy1968 Champion Author Montreal Posts:2,752 Points:575,750 Joined:Oct 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:21:38 PM Ignore ratboy1968 Report Abuse Ok
Jeeputtputt Champion Author Ohio Posts:3,002 Points:677,465 Joined:Aug 2009	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:16:32 PM Ignore Jeeputtputt Report Abuse tax, sue, fine,
Goody2317 All-Star Author Wilmington Posts:680 Points:636,855 Joined:Jun 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:14:16 PM Ignore Goody2317 Report Abuse Somehow, I see this is going to backfire and they states will hardly see any of this money.
bikerchicklette Champion Author Washington Posts:5,889 Points:1,300,620 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:14:12 PM Ignore bikerchicklette Report Abuse WoW !!
blazerbob91 Champion Author Milwaukee Posts:6,279 Points:1,910,020 Joined:Aug 2005	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:12:33 PM Ignore blazerbob91 Report Abuse We'll all pay for the spill
MRHONEST Champion Author Illinois Posts:2,217 Points:1,695,830 Joined:May 2007	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:09:13 PM Ignore MRHONEST Report Abuse Veryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy interesting!
gumbyrex Champion Author Fresno Posts:3,436 Points:786,015 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:06:45 PM Ignore gumbyrex Report Abuse The states are entitled to every penny, if not more.
serrog Champion Author Nova Scotia Posts:5,705 Points:1,539,830 Joined:Oct 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:06:21 PM Ignore serrog Report Abuse Interesting
HDFXR1991 Veteran Author Wisconsin Posts:469 Points:146,180 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:05:31 PM Ignore HDFXR1991 Report Abuse And are theses states going to get the money due to them? HELL NO!
justmedc Veteran Author Michigan Posts:382 Points:174,495 Joined:Mar 2012	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 10:00:00 PM Ignore justmedc Report Abuse the money should go to the clean up
96sc1 Champion Author El Paso Posts:8,517 Points:1,367,440 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 9:56:28 PM Ignore 96sc1 Report Abuse Way to buy votes, Mr. President!
teebone1234 Champion Author San Francisco Posts:1,837 Points:374,800 Joined:Apr 2012	Message Posted: Jul 15, 2012 9:56:09 PM Ignore teebone1234 Report Abuse agree with paulydel