McClatchy Washington Bureau

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Florida will not join the federal lawsuit against Transocean, the operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded a year ago, and will instead file a claim against BP, Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday.

"It doesn’t make sense for the state to join that lawsuit," Scott said after touring a shipyard in Panama City Tuesday morning. "We have a plan to make sure our state is treated fairly with regard to getting reimbursed by British Petroleum for the damages to our state."

Carlos Muniz, deputy attorney general, told reporters in a briefing Tuesday that the goal of the governor and Attorney General Pam Bondi is to use the Oil Pollution Act to obtain damages from BP and its partners, Transocean and Halliburton, but will not join the multidistrict lawsuit against Transocean.

"The litigation that’s the subject of a deadline tomorrow has absolutely nothing to do with compensating Florida and its taxpayers for the economic harm that they have suffered as a result of the oil spill,’’ he said. "Regardless of what other state’s are doing, the attorney general and the governor are focused on getting the maximum recovery for Florida’s taxpayers in the shortest possible time and we believe that the best way to do that is through the Oil Pollution Act claims process and, if necessary, filing litigation against BP."

Read the full story at miamiherald.com.