Legal Experts Take on Oil Disaster
A permanent cement plug has sealed the BP well that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, but the environmental disaster continues to impact the Louisiana coast, where residual oil came ashore again in Barataria Bay on Sept. 13. The ongoing legal implications of the disaster will be the topic of lectures on Friday (Sept. 24) at Tulane Law School.
Louisiana continues to fight the impact from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The state's Department of Environmental Quality documented heavy oil in Bay Jimmy and Barataria Bay on Sept. 13. (Photo from the state of Louisiana)
Six law professors "with unique expertise on what the law is in responding to the Deepwater Horizon spill" will discuss the major maritime, environmental and civil law aspects of the disaster, said Robert Force, the Niels F. Johnsen Professor of Maritime Law.
The faculty members will speak from 2 until 5 p.m. in Weinmann Hall on the uptown campus. The event is open to the public.
Death and injury actions will be the topic for professor Martin Davies, who is director of the Tulane Maritime Law Center, while Joshua Force, an adjunct lecturer in law who is teaching a course this fall on marine pollution, will discuss the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Robert Force, who also is director emeritus of the Maritime Law Center at Tulane, will speak on civil and criminal remedies.
Three of Tulane's leading experts on environmental law will take the podium as well. Professor Oliver Houck will talk on drilling in the Gulf; Mark Davis, director of the Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy, will explain natural resource damages; and professor Adam Babich, director of the Environmental Law Clinic, will discuss the drilling moratorium.
For more information on Friday's presentations, contact Robert Force.
The event is part of the "BP Blowout Lecture Series" sponsored this semester by the law school.
