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A proposal that would allow the families of the 11 oil rig workers who died during the April 20 BP oil rig explosion to seek the same legal compensation that is available for land-based accidents stalled in the Senate on Thursday. Originally the bill was worded to allow families of all fatal offshore accidents the same rights to recovery as survivors of those killed in accidents on land. This would include damages such as loss of companionship and pain and suffering. It was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives; however, after the cruise industry raised objections to this bill, the bill was modified apply only to families of those killed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
The bill was proposed by Senators Patrick Leahy Democrat-Vermont, and Jay Rockefeller, Democrat-West Virginia. Senator Leahy explained, “As the law is now, these families will be given far less protection simply because their loved ones happened to die on the open sea rather than at a well on land."
When Senator Leahy tried to bring up the bill up for consideration in the Senate, it was objected to by Senator. Jim DeMint, Republican South Carolina. The process requires the unanimous consent of all senators. The Carolina Senator did not explain the reasons for his objection to the change in maritime law.
