Blogs » The nature of things » The BP oil spill may be the "trial of the century" if it goes to trial at all

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Remember the BP oil spill? It's been a while - going on two years - since April 2010 when the Deepwater Horizon rig became was engulfed in flames and thousands of barrels of oil began from the underwater oil well began gurgling into the Gulf.

We didn't see the tar balls or the kind of coastal damage that the shores of Louisiana saw, but people in this area were impacted, nonetheless. Remember, two of the 11 people killed in the rig explosion were from the Crossroads. The Texas seafood industry is still struggling against the stigma the oil spill placed on their catch.

Back in September, a report was issued on what actually caused the spill, and, with billions of dollars at stake, the trial over the worst oil spill in our nation's history set to start on Feb. 27.

But there is still a big chance the "trial of the century" may not happen at all.

In a story from the New Orleans Times Picayune, experts say the odds are good that BP and state and federal will settle before the trial gets going. With billions of dollars on the line, all parties are trying to avoid leaving the decision in the hands of U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier, according to the report.

It'll be an interesting story to keep an eye on.