The U.S. government on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against BP (British Petroleum) and eight other companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico disaster in an effort to recover billions of dollars from the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The Obama administration's lawsuit-filed by the Justice Department in a federal court in New Orleans, Louisiana, where thousands of individuals and small businesses already have filed lawsuits against the oil giant-asks that the companies he held liable without limitation for all removal costs and damages caused by the oil spill, including damages to natural resources. The lawsuit also seeks civil penalties. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in Washington that the lawsuit alleges that "violations of safety and operational regulations" caused the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 workers and triggered the spill of nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the gulf. "We intend to prove that these violations caused or contributed to the massive oil spill and that the defendants are therefore responsible under the Oil Pollution Act for government removal losses, economic loses, as well as environmental damages," Holder told a news conference. "We're also seeking civil penalties under the Clean Water Act, which prohibits the unauthorized use of oil in the waters."
