The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said BP and Anadarko Petroleum must face penalties under federal pollution laws in connection with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Wednesday, which could expose the companies to billions of dollars in potential fines, according to The Associated Press.
The courts affirmed a 2012 decision from U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans that the companies could be held liable for civil penalties under the Clean Water Act, the AP reported.
The companies had appealed Barbier's ruling, arguing in part that they should not be responsible for oil spilled as a result of failed equipment on the drilling rig, which was owned by Transocean, but as co-owners of the well, BP and Anadarko would be on the hook for resulting fines, the appeals court ruled, according to the AP.
The Clean Water Act lets the government seek fines of up to $1,100 per barrel of oil spilled, or $4,300 per barrel if gross negligence or willful misconduct is found, the AP reported.
The court also said since the oil came from a well owned by BP and Anadarko Petroleum, they are liable, according to the AP.
"We hope the court's decision will be one more step toward reaching a just conclusion for the American people," U.S. Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said in an email, the AP reported.
"By all accounts, if the vessel's blowout preventer had functioned properly, the oil would not have entered navigable waters in violation of the Clean Water Act," Judge Fortunato P. Benavides wrote in an opinion signed by Judges Carolyn Dineen King and James L. Dennis, according to the AP.
The companies contended that meant the rig's owners should be the only companies to pay, however, Benavides wrote, the law does not let defendants facing civil penalties shift liability by blaming others, though such arguments may reduce the amount of damages, the AP reported.
"Although the defendants argue that the blowout preventer should have engaged and prevented the progression of the blowout, the need for this intervention only underscores the extent to which the oil was already unconfined and flowing freely," Benavides wrote, according to the AP.
