BP Denied Access to WH Emails in Spill Case
A federal judge on Monday denied BP Plc access to 21 emails and other documents sent among White House and other U.S. officials related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, citing the government’s need to keep them confidential.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally Shushan in New Orleans said the federal interest in preserving secrecy, together with the public interest in ensuring an effective response to the next disaster, outweighed BP’s need for the documents to defend itself in litigation by the government over the spill.
“This conclusion is not altered by the role of the U.S. in the response to the spill as well as its role as a plaintiff against BP,” Shushan added. The judge said she reviewed the documents in private before ruling.
Scott Dean, a BP spokesman, declined to comment.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2012/06/11/bp-denied-access-to-wh-emails-in-spill-case/#ixzz1xaV4ERKE
Magnolia Tribune
