BP, Louisiana Leaders Battle On The Public Stage

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BP plc (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP) has accused leaders in Louisiana of “political grandstanding” in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Now representatives for the oil giant are trading words with Louisiana officials.

BP in court over oil spill

Terry Macalister of The Guardian reports that the company tried to convince a judge that it should be allowed to reduce compensation payments made because of fraud. Meanwhile the criminal case filed against the oil company by the Department of Justice continues.

BP response to Louisiana Gov. Jindal

Officials for BP plc (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP) responded to comments made by Governor Bobby Jindal and one of his top officials. Those comments were made at the meeting of the Gulf Coast restoration council. BP officials say Jindal is guilty of “political grandstanding” and say that he made “patently false assertions” in his comments.

They also said Jindal’s comments defy “the demonstrated record of environmental recovery that has occurred across the Gulf and defames the massive efforts of tens of thousands of people to foster prompt recovery and restoration.”

Louisiana calls BP “shameless”

Louisiana coastal official Garret Graves struck back at the oil giant, saying that it isn’t a victim of the disaster and that they would continue to fight to hold BP accountable. He called the company’s “campaign” to portray itself as the victim of the disaster “shameless.” Graves’ comments were made via email to the Associated Press.

Jindal’s comments at the restoration council meeting suggested that the oil giant focused too much on repairing its own image and should instead focus more on paying for the costs of restoration. He said the company is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on public relations.

So far, BP plc (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP) officials say they have spent $26 billion on response, cleanup and claims. They said “repeated assertions” that the company spent more on advertising than on cleanup “are grossly in error and seem purposely intended to mislead the public.”

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