"The court said that, under a trust agreement, the government could control Taylor Energy’s funds for up to 50 years".
"The Court of Federal Claims dismissed Taylor Energy’s lawsuit to reclaim more than $430 million remaining in a trust fund to clean up its massive 14-year oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. Judge Nancy Firestone ruled against the company’s claim that the federal government should not be allowed to control its funds indefinitely as it determines how to address the spill about 12 miles off the Louisiana coast.
Taylor Energy originally set up a $666 million fund as the party responsible for addressing the spill, and spent more than a third of the money to cap nine of 25 wells that broke open when its oil production platform fell during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The storm caused the steep walls of a canyon to collapse in deep water, burying most of the wells under a pile of sediment."
Darryl Fears reports for the Washington Post April 11, 2019.