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November 16, 2012

BP Agrees to Pay $4.5 Billion for Deepwater Horizon Disaster 
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BP has agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $4.5 billion
to the government for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that
killed 11 people and caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S.
history. The payment includes $4 billion related to criminal charges,
including $1.2 billion in criminal fines, as well as half a billion
dollars in payments to securities regulators. Attorney General Eric
Holder said Thursday the settlement broke two records.

Eric Holder: BP has agreed to plead guilty to all 14 criminal charges,
including responsibility for the deaths of 11 people and the events that
led to an unprecedented environmental catastrophe. The company has also
agreed to pay $4 billion in fines and in penalties. This marks both the
largest single criminal fine, more than $1.25 billion, and the largest
total criminal resolution, $4 billion dollars, in the history of the
United States."

Critics say even the record payments are merely a fraction of BP's
profits and will not be enough to deter future disasters. Public Citizen
called the deal "pathetic" and "a slap on the wrist," noting it would
not prevent BP from continuing to receive lucrative government contracts
and leases. Under the settlement, BP agreed to plead guilty to 11 felony
counts of misconduct or neglect in connection with the deaths of rig
workers as well as a separate count for lying to Congress. Separately on
Thursday, the government pursued charges against three BP employees. The
top BP officers who were abroad the drill rig, Robert Kaluza and Donald
Vidrine, after the government says they became aware of multiple signs
the well was unsafe. BP’s former vice president for exploration in the
Gulf of Mexico, David Rainey, was charged with obstruction of Congress
and making false statements about how quickly oil was gushing from the
well.

 

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