Oil slicks and slick lawyers

The article lists the aftermath, but yet still going on, of the BP oil spill in the gulf. The list of costs BP has to face seems to pile up endlessly as, BP had taken a charge of $32.2 billion to cover the $20 billion it was paying into an escrow account to deal with claims against it, and to account for costs associated with shutting down the well, cleaning up after it and making some forms of recompense. This quarter the company took another $7.7 billion charge, bringing the total to about $40 billion." In addition to that BP as also violated the Clean Water Act which will lead to even more fines for BP in the future. Of course, BP is trying to only take some of the responsibility of the accident as they, "[believe] that they are liable for 35% of the costs of the accident."

BP is paying now for cutting corners and getting caught doing so. It is a lesson which should have been learned earlier as there were protocols in place that they did not follow which got them into this mess in the first place. The negative externalities are spread across the board as BP now has to pay, the environment has to pay as well as the people leaving in the areas affected. The question remains, how will BP hold up after more fines and restrictions are placed upon them until they can no longer keep up with the payments due?