Civil lawsuit regarding Deepwater Horizon oil spill

The US Department of Justice -

I am pleased to be joined by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson; Assistant Attorney General Tony West, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Division; and Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno, who leads the Environment and Natural Resources Division.  

 

In the wake of the largest oil spill in our nation’s history, Tony and Ignacia helped to lead the Justice Department’s efforts to hold accountable any and all parties found responsible for this disaster.   Today, we are here to announce the initial results of our ongoing civil investigation.

 

This investigation began shortly after April 20th of this year, when an explosion and fire destroyed the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig that was located in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 50 miles from the Mississippi River delta.  

 

This incident claimed the lives of eleven rig workers.   It marked the start of a massive oil spill that would take more than three months to contain.   And it set off a chain reaction of devastating consequences for the people, the environment, and the economy of the Gulf Coast – a region still struggling to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

 

While oil spill response efforts were underway, the Department of Justice launched both criminal and civil probes into this matter.   We dispatched dozens of top attorneys to the gulf region, and members of the Department’s senior leadership have also made multiple trips to the area.   For months, Department lawyers and investigators have been working night and day – and in close coordination with local U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and State Attorneys General.

 

As a result of this work, today, the United States filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New Orleans against nine defendants.  

 

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