Louisiana Attorney General Files Petition Against BP

On Thursday June 10 Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell filed a Petition for Discovery and Investigation against BP in state court in Plaquemines Parish. The petition alleges that BP has failed to cooperate and share important information with the State specifically information requested repeatedly by the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the Louisiana Department of Social Services regarding all claims data collected by ESIS the third party administrator for claims and for information about workers hired by BP.

The purpose of the petition is to gather information as part of the State’s investigation as to the causes of the spill and impacts to our state.

“Today’s filing was a last resort in trying to get information from BP that the Department of Social Services and the Louisiana Workforce Commission have requested repeatedly from BP since May 3 regarding the BP claims process” stated Attorney General Caldwell. “To date the State has made several requests for this information and/or further explanation but has not received an adequate response. I was hopeful that BP would cooperate and coordinate its response with the State; however that does not appear to be the case. Today’s petition is a request for a court to order BP to produce information that the State needs to monitor BP’s claims process to ensure that our citizens are being treated fairly and receiving proper assistance. As Attorney General be assured that I will take any and all necessary legal actions to safeguard the interests of those citizens and other entities of Louisiana who elect to file or are considering filing claims through the process BP has established.”