Thousands opting out of BP spill settlement

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The architects of a proposed class-action settlement of claims spawned by the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are confident it won't be derailed by thousands of businesses and individuals opting out of the deal.

Thursday is the deadline for claimants to postmark written requests to opt out of the multibillion-dollar pact between BP PLC and a team of plaintiffs' attorneys.

Patrick Juneau, administrator of the court-supervised claims process, said roughly 2,300 potential plaintiffs had opted out as of Wednesday. But Juneau said a final number won't be known until early next week.

Steve Herman, one of the lead plaintiffs' attorneys in the BP litigation, said in an email that he sees "very little chance" that the deal will fall apart based on the number of opt outs.