Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's office announced on Friday it is filing a lawsuit against BP PLC for losses sustained by the $44 billion Maryland State Retirement & Pension System, Baltimore, as a result of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and oil spill.
The lawsuit is scheduled to be filed on Friday in the U.S. District Court in Houston and covers American depository shares and BP ordinary shares purchased on the London Stock Exchange between Nov. 8, 2007, and April 26, 2010.
“The Deepwater Horizon oil spill not only claimed the lives of 11 people and caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, it also resulted in millions of dollars in investment losses sustained by Maryland's pension system,” Mr. Gansler said in a news release. “Maryland taxpayers should not have to pay the price for BP's failure to prevent and swiftly respond to this tragedy.”
It is the latest lawsuit against BP by a pension fund for investment losses that came as a result of the explosion and oil spill on April 20, 2010.
In April 2013, New York City Retirement Systems' five pension funds, with combined assets of $150 billion, sued BP for failing to “disclose to shareowners the serious risks involved in its offshore drilling operation,” according to John Liu, New York city comptroller and sole trustee of the pension funds, at the time.
Ohio and Oregon also filed lawsuits in April 2012 on behalf of state pension funds.
Mr. Gansler's spokesman David Paulson was not available by press time to provide further information. BP officials could not be reached by press time.
