NEW ORLEANS (AP) - BP has urged a federal judge to rule the company can't be penalized for millions of gallons of oil that spewed from its blown-out well but was captured before it could spill into the Gulf of Mexico.
A court filing Friday by BP says the federal government overestimated the size of the spill because workers captured more than 34 million gallons of crude and either burned it or shipped it to shore.
The company asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to rule that at least 810,000 barrels of oil, or around 34,130,000 gallons, were collected before entering the Gulf and can't be counted in calculating the company's Clean Water Act penalties.
A criminal settlement with the Justice Department in November didn't resolve the government's civil claims against BP.
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