BP OIL SPILL LITIGATION
John Costonis
© Oct. 25, 2010
Table of Contents
I. The Oil Spill: An Introduction
1. Setting the Stage
a. Timeline of the BP/Deep Horizon Oil Spill
b. R. Murkowski et al, The Deepwater Horizon Catastrophe:
A Factual Overview and Preliminary First-Party Analysis
c. Class Action: Complaint of Gulf Manufacturing Co. v. BP
d. Multi-District Litigation No. 2179
e. Statement of Interest of the United States: MDL-No. 2179
II. Federal and State Jurisdiction and Operational and
Environmental Control Over Oil Leasing and Production
1. Elements of the Tidelands Controversy
a. Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Mississippi
b. McHale, an Introduction to Offshore Energy Exploration
c. United States v. California
d. State of Alabama v. State of Texas
2: OCSLA I: Introduction
a. OCSLA, excerpts (as per Joint Session 3 and 4 assignment)
b. United States v. Ray
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3. OCSLA II: Oil Lease as a Property or Contract Rigt
a.W.Cohen & J. Haugrad, Environmental Considerations in Outer
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing in the United States
b. Union Oil Co. v. Morton.
c. Mobil Exploration and Producing Southern, Inc. v. United States
d. Hornbeck Offshore Services v. Salazar
4. OCSLA III: Federal Environmental Regulation
a. Coastal Zone Management Zone (excerpts as per Session assignment)
b. California v. Department of the Interior
c. Tribal Village of Akutan v. Hodel
d. Blanco v. Burton
e. T. Dickinson, The Spill, The Scandal and the President
f. J. Deparle, Minerals Service under Mandate to Produce Results
g. R. Wiygul, The Structure of Environmental Regulation on the
Outer Continental Shelf
5. OCSLA IV: The Law of the Adjoining State
a. L. Leggett, Oil and Gas Development on the OCS
b. Rodrigue v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co.
c. Offshore Logistics, Inc. v. Tallentire
d. Union Texas Petroleum Corp. v. PLT Engineering, Inc.
e. Union Oil Co. v. Oppen
f. Meyer v. BP plc
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III. Preemption and Supersession in Marine Law:
Anticipating OPA Interpretative Challenges
1. R. Pelz, Myth of Uniformity in Admiralty Law
2. Southern Pacific Co. v. Jensen
3. American Dredging Co. v. Miller
4. L. Kiern, Liability, Compensation and Financial Responsibility under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
5. American Waterways Operators, Inc. v. Askew I
6. American Waterways Operators, Inc. v. Askew II
7. Ballard Shipping Co. v. Beach Shellfish
8. City of Milwaukie v. State of Illinois
9. United States v. Oswego Barge Corp.
10. United States v. M/V Big Sam
11. In re Glacier Bay
IV. OPA: Cases and Issues
1. Revisiting OPA Title I during its First Decade: 1990-2000
a. L. Kiern: Liability, Compensation and Financial Responsibility under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
b. United States v. Locke
2. Punitive Damages: Superseded by OPA?
a. South Port Marine Facility L.L.C. v. Gulf Oil Ltd.
b. Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker
3. The Robins Doctrine: Has It Survived OPA?
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a. In Re Cleveland Tankers
b. In re Settoon Towing L.L.C.
c. Meyer v. BP plc
4. Limitation of Shipowners’ Liability Act of 1851: Still Viable
Under OPA?
a. Gabarick v. Laurin Maritime, Inc.
b. Bouchard Transportation Co. v. M/V Updegraff
c. R. Force & J. Gutoff, Limitation of Liability in Oil Pollution
Cases: In Search of Concursus or Procedural Alternatives
d. Petition of Transocean Deepwater et al in a Cause for
Exoneration From or Limitation of Liability
f. Memorandum of Law of the United States re the Court’s
Amended Monition as to Certain Claims and Causes of Action
5. Secs. 2701(21), 2702(a) “Navigable waters [Of the United States”]
a. In re Needham
b. Rice v. Harken
6. Sec. 2702(a) (damages)that “result from “ a discharge
a. Claussen v. M/V New Carissa
7. Secs. 2702(a), 2716 “Responsible Parties” and “Guarantors”
a. United States v. Viking Resources Inc.
b. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico v. M/V Emily
c. Water Quality Insurance Syndicate v. United States
d. L. Kiern, Liability, Compensation and Financial Responsibility under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
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8. Sec. 2702(d), 2703(a): “Act of God”
a. Apex Oil Co. v. United States
9. Sec. 2702(a), 2702(d)(1), 2703(a), 2708,
2709: Third parties “sole fault” or otherwise
b. National Shipping Co. of Saudi Arabia v. Moran Trade
Corp.
c. J. Woods, Third-Party Liability under OPA 90: Have the Courts
Veered Off Course
d. International Marine Carriers v. Oil Spill Liability Trust
Fund
10. Sec. 2713 Claims Procedure
a. Johnson v. Colonial Pipeline
b. United States v. M/V Cosco Busan
c. Marathon Pipeline Co. v. LaRoche Industries, Inc.
d. Meyer v. BPlc
11. Secs. 2701(30) and (31), 2702(b), FWPCA Sec. 1321(c):
Monitoring as a component of “Removal” costs
a. United States v. Hyundai Merchant Marine Co.,
12. Secs. 2702(b), 2706: “Natural Resources Damages”
a. C. Anderson, Damages to Natural Resources and the
Costs of Restoration
b. J. Gillis and L. Kaufman, The Corrosive Legacy of Oil Spills
c. General Electric Co. v. United States
d. Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority :
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Initiation of NRDA Assessment
13. Sec. 2712: Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund
a. G. Chalos, A Practical Guide to the Oil Spill Liability
Trust Fund Claim Submission Procedures
b. Gatlin Oil Co. v. United States
c. Brief of Appellee, Gatlin Oil Co. v. United States
d. Smith Property Holdings v. United States
e. Unocal Corp. v. United States
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