The Supreme Court will not review BP's claims that it was forced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in unjustified claims after its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

USA Today reports that the British oil company contends after its Deepwater Horizon platform caused the biggest offshore spill in U.S. history, a class-action settlement awarded damages to business owners who were not directly affected by the incident but claimed to have suffered revenue losses as a result of the ensuing economic issues.

BP has already paid more than $28 billion in claims and cleanup costs. The company may be subject to another $18 billion in civil penalties after a federal judge found the company grossly negligent in September.

Other companies have also been found liable in the incident. Oilfield services Halliburton provider entered into a $1.1 billion settlement in September, while drilling rig owner Transocean last year agreed to pay $1.4 billion in federal civil and criminal charges.

In a brief encouraging the Supreme Court to step in, BP said the claims administrator approved thousands of claims from individuals "whose purported losses were not fairly traceable to the spill." That included "lawyers who lost their law licenses and warehouses that burned down before the spill occurred."

Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, support BP, saying that what they view as "undeserved windfall" would "discourage future defendants from settling cases, portending a spike in costly class litigation."

BP Vice President Geoff Morrell told the Times-Picayune on Monday that the company remains "concerned" about unjustified claims in the wake of the Supreme Court's denial.

"We will therefore continue to advocate for the investigation of suspicious or implausible claims and to fight fraud where it is uncovered," he said. "In doing so, we hope to prevent further exploitation of our commitment to compensating all those legitimately harmed by the spill."

Steve Herman and Jim Roy, the lead plaintiffs' attorneys in the case, meanwhile celebrated a "a huge victory," the New Orleans newspaper noted.

"With the high court's rejection of BP's attempts to re-write history, (the claims administrator) can get on with the business of processing and paying eligible claims," the attorneys said.

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