La. AG sues Transocean over oil spill

Louisiana’s attorney general is asking a federal judge to rule that the owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig is liable for some of the oil that gushed out of a blown-out well on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

A lawsuit that Attorney General James “Buddy” Caldwell’s office filed last Tuesday against rig owner Transocean doesn’t seek to recover any costs or damages resulting from the massive Gulf oil spill.

But the complaint asks a judge to rule Transocean bears some liability for the underwater spill under the Oil Pollution Act.

Transocean has argued that the company only is responsible for any oil that spilled from the rig itself, above the surface of the water.

More than 200 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf from the well. Caldwell’s suit says the rig was carrying about 700,000 gallons of fuel when it exploded April 20, killing 11 workers.

A Transocean spokesman declined to comment on the suit.