Judge denies Coon motion to delay, decrease nearly $14 billion BP oil spill fines under Clean Water Act

NEW ORLEANS – A motion by a plaintiff's attorney aimed at protecting BP’s financial solvency by delaying or decreasing an estimated $13.7 billion government fine against the oil giant has been denied.

Brent Coon of Beaumont, Texas-based Coon & Associates, who represents thousands of clients with claims awaiting processing and payment, filed the request with the court on Monday. The pleading requested U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier consider the hundreds of thousands of claimants who still have not been paid for damages they allegedly suffered during the oil spill before levying a hefty government fine on BP. The fine, which has not been levied yet, has been estimated to come in at just under $14 billion.

In the pleading Coon said he “reluctantly” would join BP in its request to set aside the fine or to decrease it by capping the fine per barrel at $3,000, rather than an inflation adjusted $4,300.

BP has previously said the immense fine, along with a decrease in domestic oil production due to low oil prices may put the future of its U.S. oil operations in jeopardy and even bankrupt the company.

However, it appears the court was not swayed at all by Coon’s argument.

Only two days after the request Barbier filed a one page denial of the motion without providing any rationale or even acknowledging the reasoning behind Coon’s argument.