The 2010 BP oil spill’s long-term effects on Gulf of Mexico sea life and coastal marshes remain uncertain, an environmental expert testified today as federal attorneys laid out their case for penalties against the oil company that could reach as high as $13.7 billion.
The Associated Press reports Donald Boesch, a University of Maryland professor, testified for the Justice Department, which is pressing for high penalties against the oil giant. Aside from the obvious harm—among his examples were oiled wildlife, fouled coastal marshes and damage to mangroves—Boesch recounted potential harm to sea life populations based on the effect of oil on microbes at the bottom of the natural food chain.
Boesch was the latest in a parade of experts the Justice Department has called to bolster its case that environmental, economic and social harm done to the much of the Gulf Coast after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion at BP’s Macondo well on April 20, 2010, warrants a stiff Clean Water Act civil penalty. The explosion killed 11 workers and spewed oil into the Gulf for 87 days.
BP attorney Mike Brock questioned Boesch’s analyses at length in cross-examination.
“You’ve done no independent analysis of any population change for any fish species, correct?” Brock asked.
“I have not done that,” Boesch replied, but he consistently defended his conclusions of potential harm based on his review of a host of reports and data.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier is presiding over the trial, which began Tuesday and is expected to last three weeks if a settlement is not reached beforehand. Post-trial briefing deadlines indicate Barbier won’t rule before April. Read the full story.
