Transocean Deepwater Horizon Disaster

President Obama has finally decided that it might be a good idea to talk with BP executives, including CEO Tony Hayward. A meeting is scheduled at the White House for next week Wednesday, June 16. Yesterday, Obama met with family members of those who died in the initial explosion of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Given that President Obama is a law professor, and most of his advisors are lawyers, it came as a surprise to them that a piece of maritime law, the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), limits the amount of compensation of a death caused by wrongful acts beyond the 3-mile limit.

Under DOHSA, survivors are limited to a cash amount based solely on what a victim may have earned in life, or ‘pecuniary’ damages. Non-pecuniary damages, such as funeral expenses, grief and suffering, compensation for children, are not covered. Such was the case in 1996 concerning TWA Flight 800 when it crashed 8 miles off of Long Island. A panel of judges ruled in favor of the families of the crash victims, since in 1988, President Ronald Reagan extended the distance to international waters to 12 miles, therefore the crash did not occur on the “high seas”. It may be interesting to note that now Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor dissented, claiming that the 3-mile rule still applied.

Another maritime law, also from 1920, is a stumbling block to the clean-up efforts. Over a dozen nations have offered assistance, as they have equipment and experience in cleaning oil spills. However, the Jones Act prohibits foreign operations in the Gulf of Mexico. Known as Section 27 of the Maritime Act of 1920, the Jones Act deals with ‘cabotage’, or coastal shipping. The act is meant to protect the U.S. maritime industry such that only U.S. flagged vessels, crewed by at least 75% U.S. citizens, conducting commercial operations in U.S. waters. In 2005, the Bush administration waived the Jones Act in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

BP is not blameless. To what extent their responsibility is in the actual accident will need to be determined later. But for now, they have been doing all they can, as quickly as they can in regards to the well head one mile below the surface. However, in regards to the oil spill, there has been a tragedy of errors on many levels, from BP to the Federal government.

Source: http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=6379