BP Permanently Seals Gulf Oil Well

rexjoec writes "BP has finally plugged the Macondo well. This announcement came yesterday after $9.5 billion (through September 17) in expenditures and five months of continuous effort." From the LA Times: "Of the estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil that gushed from the well, 25% was burned, skimmed or piped to tanker ships. A second 25% has evaporated or dissolved, according to government estimates. Another 25%, classified by the government as 'residual oil,' consisted of light sheens on the water, thick goo on the shore and tar balls. The tar balls, though not harmful to humans, are likely to wash up on shore for some time."

Comments

Re:But the lawsuits have on ly begun

[vlm]

I'm not saying that the specifics of this case are right, but thats what you have to do if you sue for damages with long term repercussions.

I think you're missing the over exaggeration mentioned in the original post.

1) This happened in an area of legendary corruption. So whatever profits they claim they "lost" have surely never been reported to the IRS. How about we just forget it, shred the claims, tell the IRS nothing, and call it even?

2) They get a vacation from work, and claim they could be having a string of record breaking years. Uh huh. In your example of a broken hand, I should be able to claim I was going to take up piano and become a world famous pianist and therefore deserve a bit more than the highest paid pianist whom currently walks the earth. And I was going to be a $500K/yr brain surgeon too. And I'd like compensation for my budding NFL wide receiver career. Even if I more realistically only pull down an upper middle class income (for my area, in the coasts I'd be considered working poor). Getting, say, half the pay for doing none of the work isn't all that unfair, really. If they had to do the work, and haul in empty nets for years, then sure, give them the money they earned for their labors. But it seems unfair for me to pay them to do nothing every time I fill my gas tank.