The emerging Occupy movement has learned the lesson of the role of the police as demonstrations have been violently attacked in New York, Oakland, Denver and elsewhere. Perhaps less well understood is the role of the corporate-run courts standing behind the police. These courts play the very same role as the cops—to serve the interest of the 1 percent.
This past summer, U.S. District Courts dismissed more than 100,000 lawsuits brought against British Petroleum and Transocean for massive cleanup costs associated with the Deep Horizon oil spill. These lawsuits were bundled together and dealt with how the oil was being cleaned up. They are referred to as the D1 bundle.
The courts made this ruling stating that injury was void the moment the gusher was stopped from the Macando Well—three months after the explosion that killed 11 workers, injured 17, poured more than 200 million tons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, and led to the dumping of nearly 2 million gallons of Corexit and other toxic dispersants to prevent the oil from surfacing.
“BP and the agencies comprising the Unified Area Command have been and are cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico. An injury is not redressable by a citizen suit when the injury is already being addressed,” wrote U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, stating the actual well is “dead” and the remains of the Deepwater Horizon vessel are 5,000 feet under water.
This makes it sound as if the problem was resolved the instant the oil stopped gushing, as if there are not still massive amounts of oil in the Gulf or millions of gallons of toxic dispersants had not been dumped in the Gulf.
To add insult to injury, Judge Barbier stated that ruling in favor of the D1 claimants would not affect how the cleanup is progressing. In other words, those who have filed suits who have lost the most are not “involved” enough to pursue legal action against BP and Transocean
“The D1 defendants do not unilaterally direct the cleanup activities in the Gulf; such activities have been under the control of the National Incident Commander, Federal on-Scene Coordinator, Unified Area Command, and the Coast Guard in cooperation with other federal agencies. Thus, plaintiffs cannot show that an order from this court would actually resolve [to the defendants for] any potential deficiency in the ongoing cleanup,” Barbier wrote.
This decision lets BP and Transocean off the hook, while the people of the Gulf continue to suffer from the economic and environmental damage that will take years to resolve if ever—damage that has negatively affected the health of people and animals of the region.
One can see the partnership of the government with the corporate oil giants in the case of an autopsy report on hundreds of dead baby dolphins that have washed up on shore along the Gulf Coast. This report has been kept private, and independent scientists have not been permitted to conduct autopsies on the dolphins.
That hundreds of baby dolphins are dying indicates that something is still very wrong. The autopsy information could point to the source of the poison that is killing these marine mammals, whether it is from the oil or the toxic dispersants.
The corporate giants control the Gulf compensation fund and decide who is eligible for assistance. BP is expected to make its last payment to the fund by the end of next year. The fund is capped at $20 billion. Even BP has estimated that cleanup and associated costs could actually reach $40 billion, but this estimate has BP calling the shots on the cleanup. Who is paying the other $20 billion? The taxpayers.
Thus the decision places the responsibility of the cleanup on the federal government, meaning it is ultimately being paid for by the taxpayers—the 99 percent. Meanwhile BP alone has assets of $152 billion—more money than the gross national product of most nations on the planet.
In happier news (for BP) in October, Chief Executive Bob Dudley announced that BP is at a “turning point” towards financial health for its owners.
Dudley predicted that BP’s operating cash flow would increase by 50 percent by 2014 from profitable oil fields in the North Sea, Angola and other parts of the Gulf. Half of this “cash flow” will come back as profits to the shareholders—the owners of BP.
As the consciousness of the people grows within the emerging movement, the assets and profits of the banks must be put in the hands of the people. Along with this, the seizure of assets of BP, Transocean and other corporate giants that have destroyed the planet while prioritizing profits is an essential step if justice is to be done in the Gulf.
