U.S. Supreme Court rejects lawsuit of 3 Mexican states over Gulf spill

The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from three Mexican states seeking damages from BP and other companies over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The justices on Monday let stand a lower court ruling that said the states of Veracruz, Tamaulipas and Quintana Roo can't bring a lawsuit because Mexico's federal government owns the affected property.

The Mexican federal government filed a similar lawsuit in 2013, which is progressing through the court system.

The lawsuit filed by the states sought damages for the costs of responding to the spill, lost tourism and contamination of water, plants and shoreline.

In October the Justice Department and five U.S. states reached a US$20 billion final settlement of environmental damage claims arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.