Today, the Multi-District Litigation Panel in Boise, Idaho announced that the Oil Spill Litigation will be tried in New Orleans, Louisiana and presided over by Judge Carl J. Barbier.

With more than 12 years on the Federal bench, Judge Barbier is sited by the Panel as having the knowledge and experience to handle such mass tort litigation as the BP Oil Spill.

Here is the article that was released on August 10, 2010 by Nola.com

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/08/new_orleans_is_selected_as_sit.html

Workers from both Transocean and BP testified in a New Orleans hearing before the U.S. Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement concerning the Deepwater Horizon’s failed safety systems.

From the testimony, it is now apparent that no alarms sounded on the Oil Rig, Deepwater Horizon, before the initial explosion. An electrician on the rig stated that he had received orders to disconnect the alert system months prior to the explosion, that killed 11 men, simply to cut down on false alarms that kept waking the crew up in the middle of the night.

The amount of safety violations continue to be uncovered by testimony and documents released by court order.

Here is an article by the Wall Street Journal regarding the testimony of the electrician and the safety failures on the Deepwater Horizon.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703294904575385160342490350.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

Over the past several weeks, BP has deliberately put claims aside that don’t specifically fall under the protection of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Though BP has promised to pay all “legitimate” claims, it has yet to pay compensate two thirds of all of the claimants BP has in its possession. Only 1% of the $20 Billion escrow fund has been paid to claimants.

BP is essentially stalling for time, waiting for the government run center to take over claim operations later this month, which will be lead by Ken Feinberg.

This article, by ProPublica, is one that outlines the present struggles that claimants are facing with the current BP claims process.

At Chhabra & Gibbs, we are working diligently to help speed the claims process for our clients along as quickly as possible. Contact us if you have any questions or concerns about your BP claim.

http://www.propublica.org/article/bp-leaves-many-damage-claims-waiting-in-limbo

WAVELAND, MS (WLOX) – State officials have closed the beach and parts of Beach Boulevard in Waveland due to huge amounts of tar balls washing up on the shore and on the road.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has closed the beach from Nicholson Avenue to the Silver Slipper Casino at Bayou Caddy.

DEQ Director Trudy Fisher told WLOX News, “There’s more coverage than we’ve seen anywhere. You can’t walk anywhere on the beach without walking on it, stepping on it.”

Fisher said the water is up to the seawall, bringing much more of the oily material to shore. Fisher also said they have had to close the section of Beach Boulevard from Nicholson Avenue to Silver Slipper Casino.

County crews are working to clear the tar balls off the road first, so they can get traffic moving again.

The Hancock County Board of Supervisors and the Emergency Management Director agreed the beach must be closed. People will not be allowed on the beach in the closed area.

Fisher says it will take at least two days to clean up the beach.

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