BP has already spent or committed $37 billion on cleanup

Canada Goose Jackets contractors start trial for worst U

canada goose offshore oil spill began on Monday, with governments, businesses and individuals blaming buy canada goose jacket BP Plc mostly for the 2010 disaster that killed 11 rig workers canada goose and spilled 4 million barrels of oil into the canada goose uk black friday Gulf of Mexico.

Canada Goose sale A BP logo is seen in front of an apartment block near a petrol station in Moscow October 22, 2012. Justice Department trial attorney, said at the trial over legal culpability for the blowout and Canada Goose Outlet spill.

The trial is being held with no jury before Judge Carl Barbier at canada goose store federal court in New Orleans.

canada goose deals Lawyers for other plaintiffs also slammed BP executives, as did attorneys for two of the well owner co defendants, rig owner Transocean Ltd and cement services provider Halliburton Co. cheap canada goose uk BP lawyer Mike Brock said the blame was shared by all three Canada Goose Jackets companies.

canada goose clearance sale BP must show that its mistakes do not meet the legal definition of gross negligence required for the highest amount of damages. BP has already spent or committed $37 billion on cleanup, restoration, payouts, settlements and fines.

Canada Goose online Beyond that, liabilities could stretch into the tens of billions of dollars if Barbier determines BP or the other defendants were canada goose coats grossly negligent. Oil came ashore canada goose clearance sale from Texas to Florida, threatening livelihoods and state economies dependent on seafood and tourism, so the list of plaintiffs is long.

canada goose black friday sale Most observers expect the case to be settled before https://www.canadagooseoutletstore.co.uk the trial results in a canada goose coats on sale verdict.

cheap Canada Goose Underhill said that less than an hour before BP long troublesome Macondo well ruptured and caused an explosion, BP top well site leader on the rig called an engineer in Houston to discuss a critical pressure test that indicated problems.

Company officials did not stop the operation and souls had 47 minutes to live the rest of their lives, Underhill said.

canada goose coats on sale Underhill said the accident could have been avoided if onshore engineer Mark Hafle and well site leader Don Vidrine on the rig had done their jobs. Vidrine faces separate criminal charges in the disaster, as does Robert Kaluza, the other highest canada goose uk outlet ranking supervisor aboard the rig before the disaster.

Jim Roy, an attorney for other plaintiffs suing BP, Transocean, Halliburton and others, said BP executives at the highest level felt pressure to push output to the limit.

over protection. Profits over safety, said Roy, who represents plaintiffs who did Canada Goose online not take part in an $8.5 billion settlement BP struck last year.

buy canada goose jacket cheap Roy Canada Goose sale also said Transocean Canada Goose Parka opened the door to disaster with poor staff training and poor maintenance of seabed equipment, while Halliburton made substandard cement to plug cheap Canada Goose the well.

buy canada goose jacket Transocean lawyer, Brad Brian, came out swinging against BP, saying rig workers trusted the company and died betrayed.

canadian goose jacket Brian noted BP employees Canada Goose Coats On Sale had referred to Macondo as a from Hell in emails, and the inaction following Vidrine and Hafle 8 minute phone call showed they did what uk canada goose outlet BP had done for two months in the face of a risky well: did nothing.

Halliburton lawyer, Don Godwin, made similar arguments about BP but also said Transocean rig crew should have shut in the uk canada goose well at the first sign of trouble. is when they want to pass the buck and blame my client for their misdeeds, he said.

Canada Goose Parka And David Beck, the lawyer for Cameron International, maker of the blowout preventer atop the well, said the structure works in tandem with other efforts to prevent disaster.

a blowout preventer. It is not a blowout stopper, Beck said.

In BP opening statement, Brock said the misinterpretation of the pressure test was made canadagooseoutletstore along with Transocean. was a mistake made by several men with two companies, Brock said. should not have accepted it, but it was a mistake.

ASSESSING BLAME Louisiana continues to suffer from the oil spill, state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said on Monday, canada goose factory sale with hundreds of miles of coastline still being polluted than 30 miles from the door of this courthouse.

Barbier, overseeing the trial, has deep Gulf Coast canada goose clearance roots. Born in New Orleans in canada goose uk shop 1944, he went to Southeastern Louisiana University and Loyola University New Orleans School of Law. He had a private practice for years in New Orleans before President Bill Clinton tapped him for canadian goose jacket the federal bench in 1998.

The judge, who handled several high profile cases stemming from Hurricane Katrina, had postponed the BP trial by more than a canada goose black friday sale month. An army of media have descended on New Orleans to cover it, and the delay avoided a clash with the NFL Super Bowl on February 3 or the Mardi Gras festival on February 12.

canada goose clearance The fact that the case has not yet settled surprises many. never thought that they intended to try this case and really cannot afford to do so because the exposure is too potentially catastrophic, said Blaine LeCesne, a professor at Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans.

The trial first phase focuses on how much each company is to blame and the degree of negligence. Luther Strange, Alabama attorney general, said Canada Goose Online he would seek to show BP, Transocean and Halliburton all acted with negligence and willful misconduct and buy canada goose jacket cheap therefore would owe his state punitive damages.

Canada Goose Outlet Simple negligence involves mistakes. Gross negligence involves reckless or willful disregard for human and environmental safety and is difficult to prove, experts say.

BP has consistently denied it was grossly negligent.

canada goose store BP has sold assets to help cover its spill related costs, including its older, smaller Gulf of Mexico operations.