Connecticut Attorney General's Office
Press Release
Attorney General Joins Coastline States In Letters To BP And Affiliates To Protect State’s Interests From Potential Damage From Oil Spill
June 21, 2010
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today, joining attorneys general from 10 other Atlantic Coast states, sent letters to BP and its affiliated companies as a first step to protect Connecticut’s interests from the potential effects of the oil spill.
Blumenthal said that even if it is unlikely that oil will actually reach the Connecticut shoreline, there remains a threat that wildlife -- including injured or sick migratory birds that spend part of their life in Gulf area waters before heading north -- could be severely impacted.
“We must protect Connecticut taxpayers from bearing any of BP’s burden resulting from this outrageous oil spill,” Blumenthal said. “Even without oil actually reaching the Connecticut shoreline, this massive oil spill could still impose damage and destruction to the entire Atlantic coastline. Injured animals that spend part of their life cycle in Gulf area waters -- particularly birds and marine life -- are likely to be severely damaged, creating consequences for all shoreline states.
“Connecticut and a coalition of states are putting BP and affiliated companies on notice that we will not pay the price for their monumental failures.”
The attorneys general asked BP, Transocean, Halliburton and Cameron to:
- memorialize public commitments and provide assurances regarding payment of all legitimate claims stemming from the oil spill;
- assign an individual to serve as point of contact to help ensure that each of the attorney general offices can quickly and effectively communicate with BP, Transocean, Halliburton, and Cameron;
- preserve any and all documents, data compilations, including electronically recorded and stored data, tangible objects or other information relevant to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, the resulting oil spill that began on April 20, and the response and clean-up effort in any form in which they currently exist until further notice.
Participating states include Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina