ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The state of Alaska is aiming to collect "several hundred million dollars" from BP as compensation for pipeline leaks in 2006 that hobbled North Slope oil production and cut into state revenue, a state lawyer said.
The claim is the heart of a meticulous and highly technical lawsuit the state filed Tuesday against BP.
The federal government this week filed its own suit against the London-based company alleging violations of federal pollution laws.
While the state suit also is seeking millions of dollars in penalties for environmental infractions, the bulk of the 49-page suit attempts to establish the state's claim to "lost" oil revenue by showing BP's negligence in maintaining oil pipelines in Prudhoe Bay and neighboring oil fields.
The suit offers new glimpses at efforts among workers inside BP to cope with company cost cutting, attempting to stave off disaster with pipelines the company knew to be in chronically poor condition.
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