A court filing Monday by BP lawyers says the company is waiving the statutory limitation on liability under the 1990 Oil Pollution Act even though it denies engaging in any gross negligence in connection with the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig and resulting spill. BP PLC has informed a federal judge that the company is waiving a $75 million cap on its liability for certain economic damage claims spawned by the massive Gulf oil spill.
Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier gave a BP lawyer a week to state in writing whether the company will agree to waive the cap. Plaintiffs lawyers had expressed concern that the company was sending mixed signals on the cap.
Barbier is presiding over more than 300 consolidated lawsuits over the rig blast and oil spill.
