A federal judge has ordered BP to indefinitely preserve samples taken from the Gulf of Mexico during the life of the oil disaster.
Judge Carl Barbier sided with plaintiff's attorneys who said the liquid and air samples taken by BP in the Gulf during the life of the disaster are vital to their litigation.
Attorney Michael Stag told WWL First News that in order to absolutely prove that the oil which caused property and economic damage came from the broken BP wellhead, knowing the distinctive chemical markers in the oil is essential.
"For purposes of 'fingerprinting' the oil at a later date, should that be an issue in the litigation," Stag said.
Stag said that ideally, he wanted to get a pure sample of the oil directly from the broken wellhead.
However, he said the success of the temporary cap has closed off that avenue.
"The good news is they got the well capped...the bad news is that it may be more difficult to get samples at this point and time."
Click to listen to WWL's Jay Vise's interview with Michael Stag >>>
Stag said that in asking for the judicial order, he had no reason to believe that BP might act in bad faith and destroy the samples.
However, he noted that in very large cases such as this, evidence can be lost in the shuffle. Stag says a judicial order ensures that BP will act proactively to preserve the samples.
"Obviously, BP is the one who's in control of the site, they're in control of the well...they're the one who have the best access to this evidence," Stag said.
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