BP and Obama administration on Collision course
It seems BP and US govt. are heading for showdown over the issue of compensation to the workers who lost wages due to moratorium imposed by the US government on exploration activities in the Gulf of Mexico.
US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told a Senate hearing he would ask BP to repay salaries of any workers laid off because of the six-month moratorium on deepwater exploratory drilling imposed by the US government after the spill.
Turning up the heat on the British oil major, a senior US Justice Department official said after the markets closed that the department was “planning to take action” to ensure BP had enough money on hand to cover spill damages.
BP’s total bill so far, including cleanup costs, has reached $1.25 billion and the US government has already said it will have to pay billions more in penalties.The White House echoed Salazar’s comments.
“The moratorium is as a result of the accident that BP caused. It is an economic loss for those workers, and … those are claims that BP should pay,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told a briefing.
BP believes it may be heading for a showdown with the White House over widening liability demands, a BP source said. While the company has said it will pay for the clean-up and direct damages to those affected by the spill, the moratorium was a government decision and costs related to it were a different matter, the source said.
Earlier, the company’s stock closed down 4 percent in London on concerns the company might have to suspend its dividend payment. US politicians have been calling for this, saying the company should put its cash into paying for legal claims and environmental damage in the Gulf.
After contaminating wetland wildlife refuges in Louisiana and barrier islands in Mississippi and Alabama, the black tide of crude oil has taken aim at some of the famous white beaches of Florida, whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism.
One-third of the Gulf’s federal waters are closed to fishing and the toll of dead and injured birds and animals is climbing.
Frustration with BP and the US government’s response to the leak is growing in southeastern Louisiana, where fishing bans are taking a heavy toll on the local economy.
Joan Strohmeyer, who owns the Lighthouse Lodge in Venice, Louisiana, said her hotel is fully booked with BP workers and others responding to the spill, but that may not last.
“Is there going to come a time where I have nobody in my hotel?” she asked. “I don’t know whether we’re going to end up being ahead or behind.”
The Obama administration, facing growing voter discontent over its own handling of the crisis, has sought to distance itself from the company. Obama has also toughened his rhetoric in recent days and said in an interview this week he would fire BP CEO Tony Hayward if he worked for him.
Agencies
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