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32 Energy L.J. 57 (2011)
BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

handle is hein.journals/energy32 and id is 63 raw text is: BP GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL John Wyeth Griggs * Synopsis: The blowout of BP's Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, provided the first major test of the national oil spill containment and response apparatus put in place by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. News media coverage of the blowout displayed a lack of awareness of the Act or the mechanisms it had put in place to respond to major oil spills. Many questions raised by the media are answered or explained by the statute and its regulations. This article discusses the Act's provisions as they relate to the Macondo blowout, its effectiveness in dealing with the spill, and the prospects for amending the law. I. The Macondo Blowout .......................................57 II. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 .................... ..........59 A. Who Is in Charge? ...............59 B. Why Was the Government Slow to Respond? ................ 62 C. Why Did It Take So Long to Stop the Spill? .................63 D. Is There a Cap on BP's Liability?............. ...............67 E. Why Was BP's Permission Required for Private Clean-up Efforts?............................. 69 F. To What Penalties Is BP Subject? ................... .....69 G. What Damages Will BP Have to Pay?.......................71 H. How Will the Macondo Blowout Affect Deepwater Oil Production? ............................. ..........74 III. Legislative Response....................................76 IV. Concluding Observations ....................... ..........78 I. THE MACONDO BLOWOUT The blowout of British Petroleum's (BP) Macondo well in the deep water of the Gulf of Mexico was the largest accidental oil spill in the world, greater than both the Ixtoc blowout off the coast of Mexico and the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.' Eleven crew members of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig were killed, others were injured, the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen were impacted, countless marine animals and organisms were destroyed, and marshes and beaches in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida were fouled. The blowout dominated news coverage from April 20, 2010, until the blowout was * Managing Partner, Griggs & Adler, P.C. Mr. Griggs represents users of oil pipelines, utilities, and wholesale purchasers of electric power in proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Mr. Griggs is not involved in any of the litigation related to the Macondo blowout. 1. Tom Zeller, Jr., Estimates Suggest Spill Is Biggest in U.S. History, N.Y. TIMES, May 27, 2010, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/us/28flow.html (Exxon Valdez spilled some 11 million gallons; Ixtoc some 140 million gallons); Joel K. Bourne, Jr., The Deep Dilemma, NAT'L GEOGRAPHIC, Oct. 2010, at 43. 57

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