In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "Deepwater Horizon" in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
MDL No. 2179 (E.D. La. 2012)
BP Exploration and Production, Inc. (BP) and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (Anadarko) co-leased Gulf of Mexico oil and gas rights and co-owned a well being drilled using the Deepwater Horizon, a mobile offshore-drilling unit (MODU) owned by Transocean (Transocean). After a blowout caused Deepwater Horizon to break off and sink, oil flowed from the well through the broken riser into the Gulf. The federal government sought joint and several liability against all three companies under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) for removal costs, and civil penalties under the Clean Water Act (CWA); Transocean argued it wasn't a lessee and therefore not liable for underwater discharge costs, while Anadarko argued CWA liability should attach only at the end of the broken riser, where oil actually entered the water. All parties moved for summary judgment.
Whether, under the Oil Pollution Act, the party responsible for removal costs and damages from an underwater oil discharge by a mobile offshore-drilling unit being used as an offshore facility is the lessee of the area in which the facility is operating, and whether, under the Clean Water Act, the phrase "from which the oil discharged" means the place where the uncontrolled movement of the oil began.