A lot of money, regardless

Clifford Krauss and Elisabeth Rosenthal have an article in The New York Times about the cost of the Gulf leak, and who pays:

Who is liable for the cleanup costs and damage from the spill? Under a 1990 federal law, the primary leaseholder of the well, BP, is responsible for picking up the lion’s share of the cleanup costs. Anadarko Petroleum and Matsui Oil Exploration together own 35 percent of the lease, and they would pay that share of expenses. The law requires BP and the other leaseholders to pay an unlimited amount in direct cleanup costs. Their liability for other damage, such as ruined fisheries and lost tourist revenue, is legally capped at $75 million, although the company says it is willing to pay claims beyond that. Above the cap, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, financed by a tax on oil companies, is supposed to pick up the tab, up to a total of $1 billion.
Craig Bennett, the director of the Coast Guard’s National Pollution Funds Center, said that, as of Wednesday morning, BP had received 6,414 claims, mostly from fishermen for lost wages and damage to their boats. He said the company had paid out $2.5 million so far, and “they have not denied any claims yet”.
President Obama proposed legislation to create a variety of emergency programs to advance money to people affected by the spill, bolster the trust fund through a higher tax on oil companies, and raise the overall spending limit to $1.5 billion per accident. Separate legislation already introduced would raise a company’s cap on liability to $10 billion. If it is found that BP was grossly negligent or broke federal safety regulations, there is no limit to what it must pay.
Insurance companies are likely to pay some costs, and BP’s contractors could also face claims. Those contractors include Transocean, the rig’s operator; Halliburton, the company responsible for cementing the well; and Cameron International, the maker of the blowout preventer, a device designed to shut off a well.
How much could all these costs add up to? Estimates vary greatly, especially because oil continues to gush from the well and most of it has not yet reached shore. Morningstar, an investment research firm, has estimated that the environmental cleanup, payments to businesses like hotels that have suffered losses, and other regulatory and legal liabilities, could exceed $4 billion. According to the Insurance Information Institute, companies with exposure to liabilities are insured for losses totaling about $1.4 billion.
Will taxpayers end up paying the bill? BP says the leaseholders will pay cleanup costs and all legitimate damage claims. The Obama administration says it is determined to make BP pay the entire cost of the accident. The company earns billions of dollars in profits every year, so even a multibillion-dollar tab would not cripple it. “The U.S. government will seek to recoup every penny that it can from BP and its partners in the Deepwater Horizon project,” predicted Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute. “There will be no tax dollars whatsoever that subsidize the payment insurers will make to parties involved in the Deepwater Horizon project.”
A number of sea turtles and dolphins have been found dead along the gulf coast. Is this related to the spill or the use of chemical dispersants being used to clean up the area? So far, the deaths of eighteen birds, six dolphins, and 87 sea turtles have been reported to the authorities as possibly related to the spill. It is normal for a certain number of animals to wash up dead on beaches. This time of year, for example, dolphins can run into trouble when they come into shallower waters to have their calves.
In the case of sea turtles, Dave Westerholm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that there was no external evidence of oil on the animals, but that full autopsies had not yet been completed. As for the dolphins, Jane Lubchenco of NOAA said the government was still in “the discovery phase”.
How much dispersant has been used so far? More than 400,000 gallons of dispersant have been applied to the spill, already far exceeding the volume of chemicals used to control other spills in the United States. “I think it’s fair to say that when it comes to this volume, we’re in uncharted waters,” said Lisa P. Jackson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Rico says it's ugly, gonna get uglier, and was all avoidable...