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Oil spill legal mess likely one of costliest ever (AP)

A volunteer holds a Kemp's ridley turtle hatchling before releasing it into the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, July 26, 2010 at Padre Island National Seashore, Texas. Hundreds of endangered baby sea turtles embarked on a new life in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday with federal biologists hoping that by the time the tiny critters get as far east as the BP spill, the toxic oil will largely be gone. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)AP - BP PLC and the other companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are faced with fast-multiplying lawsuits that will provoke one of the most drawn-out and costliest legal battles in U.S. history, one that could easily consume the billion set aside by BP to pay for the disaster, according to legal experts and attorneys nationwide.