2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill ALERT!

2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill ALERT!
BP’s Quick Settlement Tactic Shutdown by Alabama Attorney General
While Gulf Coast residents wait for the oil slick to make landfall, the oil conglomerate BP has been focusing on a different sort of disaster preparedness: seeking to insure itself against the wave of lawsuits attorneys are already preparing to file over the spill’s impact. BP, which owns the destroyed gulf oil rig that is leaking millions of gallons of crude oil into the waters off Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florid, has reportedly been pushing commercial fishermen pitching in with relief efforts to sign settlement agreements capping any claims against the oil giant at $5,000, in an effort to suppress future legal action arising from the spill.
Alabama Attorney General Troy King has advised representatives of BP PLC, that they should immediately cease circulating settlement agreements among coastal Alabamians. The agreements, King said, essentially require that people give up the right to sue in exchange for payment of up to $5,000.
The attorney general said he is prohibited from giving legal advice to private citizens, but added that “people need to proceed with caution and understand the ramifications before signing something like that.They should seek appropriate counsel to make sure their rights are protected,” King said.
The attorneys general from Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas want BP PLC to sign a contract stating exactly what “legitimate expenses” they’ll cover from the spill. Reason being, Florida AG Bill McCollum said after Sunday’s meeting in Mobile, Ala., that he doesn’t know if expenses include business losses, protecting environmental areas and lost wages for restaurant workers.