Today’s Wall Street Journal contained an article on plans that states have to recover oil spill related losses from BP. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood seems to have a handle on the scope of the possible litigation:
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has sought advice from state university researchers, economists and lawyers to assess the environmental and economic damage the spill has caused to the state.
Mr. Hood said the process could take three or more years before he could present BP with the final bill because the issues aren’t straightforward. For instance, hotel capacity along the coast may be similar to last year’s but rooms now are occupied by clean-up workers instead of money-spending tourists.
Mississippi has already received $25 million from BP to pay for costs from the spill and another $25 million for its local governments that are grappling with an array of economic issues brought on by the slick that has washed ashore.
“We’re first going to ask BP to pay what we can come up with and hopefully we can negotiate with them,” Mr. Hood said. “But I’m losing faith quickly.”
His advance planning includes strategies for a lawsuit against BP in state court. “I certainly don’t want to be thrown into the mix with thousands of other claims” in federal courts, Mr. Hood said.
General Hood: (1) is consulting experts to assist in quantifying damages; (2) has a realistic estimate on the length of the impact (3 or more years); (3) is trying to first resolve the issue through negotiation; and (4) is planning litigation strategy in the event that negotiations with BP fail.
Hood’s handling of the situation looks very good. And much better that Governor Barbour’s, whose failure to publicly recognize the scope of the disaster is facing growing criticism.