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HOUSTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - BP Plc sued a Louisianaregulator on Thursday for requiring the company to retrieveanchors lost or buried during cleanup of its 2010 Macondo oilspill, even though the U.S. Coast Guard has said that would hurtthe environment in the Gulf of Mexico.
The filing, in federal court in Baton Rouge, alleges thatthe Louisiana Department of Natural Resources ordered thecompany to violate federal law that prohibits retrieval of theanchors.
The anchors were dropped throughout the Gulf to hold linesof boom in place that were used to capture oil after the Macondodisaster that killed 11 men and sent more than 4 million barrelsof oil spewing into the sea. BP said it deployed the booms aspart of a U.S. government-directed spill response.
Many anchors were removed after the cleanup, but others lostor buried were left.
BP said the company cannot comply with Louisiana's demandthat it recover the rest because federal law prohibits retrievalof so-called "orphan anchors."
The filing on Thursday was the latest of more than a dozenmotions or appeals BP has made over the cleanup or to slowpayouts from a 2012 settlement to compensate people harmed bythe spill.
BP has complained that the settlement, which was not capped,has been mismanaged by the claims administrator and it iscosting the company more than expected.
The company has also sued the U.S. government after thecompany was excluded from bidding for new federal contracts,including leases to explore and drill in the Gulf.
The Macondo disaster, the worst-ever offshore oil spill inU.S. history, so far has cost BP about $42.4 billion in chargeson its balance sheet from payouts, cleanup and restoration costsand ongoing litigation.
Separately, the second phase of the main trial overliability for the Macondo spill is scheduled to start Sept. 30.
The first phase of the trial was held to determine blame forthe spill, although the federal judge overseeing the case hasreserved his findings. The second phase of the trial willconsider the amount of oil spilled to assign damages.
