Jury trial approval in BP oil spill case moves Alabama gulf coast one step closer to being made whole

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April 2, 2015

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A federal judge has ruled that Alabama will be able to have a jury trial against BP to seek recompense for the economic damages caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange applauded the decision, calling it a “significant development” toward repairing the state’s coastal economy.

BP had moved to strike the State of Alabama’s request for a jury trial.

“I’ve always believed that a jury of Alabamians should have the final say over the extent of economic damages owed our state,” said Attorney General Strange in a press release. “From day one my office has sought to bring BP and other responsible parties before a jury, hopefully in Alabama.”

The April 2010 oil spill dumped an estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, practically putting a stop to the tourism and fishing industries in every Gulf state for the rest of the year. Alabama’s Gulf Coast is still seeing some of the environmental and economic ramifications of the disaster.

The state has already been awarded tens of millions of dollars from the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, established by BP under judicial order, to help repair some of the environmental damages to fisheries, wildlife reserves, and Alabama’s barrier islands.

“Alabama is the first of the affected Gulf states, and in fact, the first plaintiff, to secure a compensatory damages trial against BP,” said AG Strange. “This is a significant development for our state as we seek to reclaim lost revenues from the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history.”