(Image Source: Derick E. Hingle / Bloomberg) BY CHRISTIAN BRYANT AND JONAS BRUUN The civil trial against oil giant BP for its part in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill began Monday. While BP is poised to shell out billions of dollars for their alleged negligence, the essential question is “What is the price of that negligence?” Sources report lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department Michael Underhill said BP was guilty of “willful misconduct” and the catastrophe happened because of BP’s “culture of corporate recklessness.” BP has already plead guilty to criminal charges and have agreed to pay $4 billion in fines. But sources say that’s only the beginning. CNN reports part one of BP’s courtroom tangle with the Justice Department hinges on one word: “gross.” If the judge rules that BP was “ grossly negligent” in cutting corners on safety measures to reduce costs, the oil company could pay up to $4,300 per barrel of oil that was spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Bloomberg adds: “... a finding of gross negligence would mean the company is liable to the U.S. for as much as $17.6 billion in Clean Water Act fines, as well as unspecified punitive damages to claimants who weren’t part of the $8.5 billion settlement the company reached last year.” The obvious next question: “How many barrels were calculated?” Getting to the bottom of that is another debate in itself. The total number of barrels have been estimated at anywhere between 3.1 and 4.9 million. Observers point out that the real determining factor in how much BP will eventually pay is their lawyers’ ability to convince the judge that the oil spill wasn’t a one-company atrocity. BP blames the operators of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and the cement service providers that was contracted after the burst. “BP admits there were a series of mistakes made by its employees but claim mistakes were also made by Transocean and Halliburton employees.” That fight looks like it could go on for months. If the trial goes the full distance, it isn’t certain that a ruling will fall this year. Fox News sums up the extent of the case. “Some 400 minutes of opening arguments, 11 teams of attorneys and 80 witnesses set to testify; witnesses including a taped deposition of BP’s former CEO Tony Haywood.” The big “if” is whether the trial actually will be finished. Several media outlets report that there is a proposed deal of a settlement on the table; a deal that expectedly would cost BP $16 billion. New York Times reports that the proposal is a big breakthrough and that a push for a deal continues after the first day of the trial. It notes that it’s the first agreement among the involved states and the federal government on “how the states would divide any settlement money, and how the settlement would balance fines and penalties against BP.” Eleven men died when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico and leaked oil for three months. The civil trial continues with the beginning of witness testimony on Tuesday.