The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility: The ‘Superfund’ Myth and the Law of Unintended Consequences

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal, Vol. 5, p. 87, 2011

St. Thomas University School of Law Research Paper No. 4

23 Pages Posted: 30 Jul 2011 Last revised: 24 Apr 2014

Date Written: July 29, 2011

Abstract

This Article, to be part of a 2011 Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal Symposium, compares the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust agreement with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (“GCCF”) governing documents. It also traces the evolution of GCCF in 2010. The interaction of corporate law, international law, and environmental regulation complicates the situation. The inevitable limitation of resources available to address this matter ultimately exposes the competition for those resources among (1) individuals and businesses allegedly damaged in an economic sense, (2) those in the oil industry trying to produce the products upon which our economy relies, (3) government scientists seeking ecosystem restoration, and (4) prosecutors seeking retribution through criminal actions to “express societal outrage about the spill in ways that civil penalties cannot.” Just as dispersants have hidden much of the real spill below the surface, the ultimate role of the GCCF in compensating victims may be known only after we see how the complex components of that system (government and private lawsuits, comprehensive settlements, restoration of the Gulf oil, fishing, and tourism industries) play out and interact. In other words, we are still seeing more of the myth than the reality of the GCCF.

Keywords: environment, oil spill, BP

Suggested Citation

Light, Alfred (Fred) R., The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility: The ‘Superfund’ Myth and the Law of Unintended Consequences (July 29, 2011). Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal, Vol. 5, p. 87, 2011, St. Thomas University School of Law Research Paper No. 4, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1898807

Alfred (Fred) R. Light (Contact Author)

St. Thomas University School of Law, ( email )

16401 N.W. 37th Ave.
Miami, FL 33054
United States
305-623-2315 (Phone)
305-623-2390 (Fax)

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