HOUSTON, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- A Texas lawsuit claims British energy company BP has a legacy of neglecting safety issues in favor of corporate profits, adding to the Deepwater Horizon tab.

A judge in Texas agreed to combine seven cases into a single class-action lawsuit against BP. The suit claims that BP ignored safety and environmental records, leading to two oil spills in Alaska in 2006 and a fatal explosion at a Texas refinery in 2005, London's Independent newspaper reports


The new suit extends the claims to the period after the company's Deepwater Horizon oil platform caught fire and sank in April, leading to one of the worst oil spills in the history of the industry.

The suit could add billions of dollars to BP's bill for the accident if the claimants are successful. BP is already facing hefty fines from the accident, on top of mounting cleanup bills.

The lawsuit is said to examine BP's safety record and its communications regarding disasters in the U.S. energy sector, the British newspaper adds.

BP didn't offer an official comment on the combined lawsuit. The lawsuit is related to state pension funds that lost money after the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.