3.19 Million Barrels Spilled, BP Faces $13.7 Billion in Fines for Deepwater Horizon Disaster

In an official ruling on Thursday, January 15, 2015, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier determined 3.19 million barrels of oil were spilled in the Gulf of Mexico from the Macondo well following the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion on April 20, 2010. Under the Clean Water Act, oil spill violators face fines ranging from $1,000 to $4,300 per barrel of oil spilled. BP now faces up to $13.7 billion in fines. The third and final phase of the trial starts Tuesday and Barbier will determine how much BP will pay in pollution fines.

You can read more on this ruling in this article from The Times-Picayune.