Halliburton Gulf Oil Spill Settlement Will Shield Company from Billions in Liability

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http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/09/03/halliburton-gulf-oil-spill-settlement-will-shield-company-billions-liability



Legal victory behind it, Halliburton expected to pursue new oil profits

Halliburton Gulf Oil Spill Settlement Will Shield Company from Billions in Liability
Sarah Lazare, staff writer
Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Halliburton's $1.1 billion settlement, announced Tuesday, for its role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill will likely shield the company from being held liable for billions of dollars in damages in the future.

The company, which was contracted by BP to cement the Macondo oil well, stands accused of doing defective work and thus paving the way for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, which killed 11 workers, spilled millions of gallons of oil into Gulf waters, and continues to pollute beaches and harm public health in affected areas.

Both Halliburton and BP have exchanged accusations and lawsuits charging that the other company is responsible for the faulty well. While a White House Panel report, released in 2011, assigned responsibility to BP, Transocean, and Halliburton for the spill, a federal judge in 2012 ruled that BP bears the bulk of the liability for damages.

In October 2013, Halliburton pleaded guilty to criminal charges of destroying evidence related to the oil spill.