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Businesses won’t have to return BP spill payouts

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 21, 2010 file photo, oil can be seen in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, as a large plume of smoke rises from fires on BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig. The oil giant argued Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, before a federal judge that a flawed funding formula in a settlement the company agreed to after the oil spill is giving money to businesses for questionable claims, and they should be forced to give it back. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, April 21, 2010 file photo, oil can be seen in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, as a large plume of smoke rises from fires on BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig. The oil giant argued Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, before a federal judge that a flawed funding formula in a settlement the company agreed to after the oil spill is giving money to businesses for questionable claims, and they should be forced to give it back. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) FILE - In this Wednesday, April 21, 2010 file photo, oil can be seen in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, as a large plume of smoke rises from fires on BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig. The oil giant argued Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, before a federal judge that a flawed funding formula in a settlement the company agreed to after the oil spill is giving money to businesses for questionable claims, and they should be forced to give it back. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

By Associated Press 4 min read

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A federal judge has ruled that BP must stand by the agreement made with the companies it compensated for losses after the 2010 Gulf oil spill despite the oil giant saying some claims were overestimated.

BP argued that a flawed funding formula enabled nearly 800 businesses to overestimate their spill-related claims.

One construction company hundreds of miles from the coast received $13.2 million, but deserved $4.8 million at most, BP said. Another company selling “animals and animal skins” was overpaid about $14 million, and about 50 others shouldn’t have been paid at all, the company said.

About 150 claimants should return a total of $185 million, and overpayments to the rest haven’t been calculated, attorney Kevin Downey argued.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier was not persuaded Wednesday, thwarting BP’s latest attempt to control potential liabilities now approaching $50 billion.