BP escapes serious pain

[boutons_deux]

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (http://www.mysanantonio.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Ftexas&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Eric+Holder%22) will speak in New Orleans about the government's $4.5 billion settlement with BP over the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/texas/article/US-AG-sets-news-conference-on-BP-spill-settlement-4039947.php#ixzz2CJY7wEEv

per gallon spilled, was to be over $20B.

$4.5B is not even one qtr of BP profits

[Th'Pusher]

Wow. Thought the fine was going to be closer to $10b

[boutons_deux]

If BP is found to be grossly negligent, a legal standard the government would have to prove showing the accident resulted from a conscious BP act or omission, it could be fined as much as much as $4,300 per barrel.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/BP-Agrees-to-4-5-Billion-in-Penalties-Over-2010-4040830.php#ixzz2CJkIz453

Corporate-Americans are really different from Human-Americans. The law doesn't apply.

[Wild Cobra]

What is the fine to their contractors for shoddy work?

[Winehole23]

Two men who worked for BP during the 2010 Gulf oil spill disaster have been charged with manslaughter and a third with lying to federal investigators, according to indictments made public Thursday, hours after BP announced it was paying $4.5 billion in a settlement with the U.S. government over the disaster.

A federal indictment unsealed in New Orleans claims BP well site leaders Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine acted negligently in their supervision of key safety tests performed on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig before the explosion killed 11 workers in April 2010. The indictment says Kaluza and Vidrine failed to phone engineers onshore to alert them of problems in the drilling operation.


Another indictment charges David Rainey, who was BP's vice president of exploration for the Gulf of Mexico, on charges of obstruction of Congress and false statements. The indictment claims the former executive lied to federal investigators when they asked him how he calculated a flow rate estimate for BP's blown-out well in the days after the April 2010 disaster.


Before Thursday, the only person charged in the disaster was a former BP engineer who was arrested in April on obstruction of justice charges. He was accused of deleting text messages about the company's response to the spill.
Earlier in the day, BP PLC said it would plead guilty to criminal charges related to the deaths of 11 workers and lying to Congress.


The day of reckoning comes more than two years after the nation's worst offshore oil spill. The figure includes nearly $1.3 billion in criminal fines — the biggest criminal penalty in U.S. history — along with payments to certain government entities.
"We believe this resolution is in the best interest of BP and its shareholders," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, BP chairman. "It removes two significant legal risks and allows us to vigorously defend the company against the remaining civil claims."
The settlement, which is subject to approval by a federal judge, includes payments of nearly $2.4 billion to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, $350 million to the National Academy of Sciences and about $500 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC accused BP of misleading investors by lowballing the amount of crude spewing from the ruptured well.


London-based BP said in a statement that the settlement would not cover any civil penalties the U.S. government might seek under the Clean Water Act and other laws. Nor does it cover billions of dollars in claims brought by states, businesses and individuals, including fishermen, restaurants and property owners.


A federal judge in New Orleans is weighing a separate, proposed $7.8 billion settlement between BP and more than 100,000 businesses and individuals who say they were harmed by the spill.


BP will plead guilty to 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect of a ship's officers, one felony count of obstruction of Congress and one misdemeanor count each under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Clean Water Act. The workers' deaths were prosecuted under a provision of the Seaman's Manslaughter Act. The obstruction charge is for lying to Congress about how much oil was spilling.


The penalty will be paid over five years. BP made a profit of $5.5 billion in the most recent quarter. The largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the U.S. Justice Department was a $1.2 billion fine imposed on drug maker Pfizer in 2009.

http://news.yahoo.com/bp-executive-charged-lying-authorities-190951786.html

[boutons_deux]

civil, environmental fines are yet to come.

That's where BP, having pleaded guilty to criminal charges, could face $4000+ per barrel spilled.

[boutons_deux]

What timing!

Oil platform explodes off Louisiana coast; 2 missing, 4 injured







http://touch.latimes.com/#section/718/article/p2p-73337801/

[boutons_deux]

Top Ten True costs of BP Gulf Oil Spill (http://www.juancole.com/2012/11/top-ten-true-costs-of-bp-gulf-oil-spill.html)

1. Fish with lesions and oozing sores. (http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html) Dr. Jim Cowan: “The fishermen have never seen anything like this… And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20 and 30,000 fish, I’ve never seen anything like this either.”

2. Eyeless shrimp.

3. Already-endangered blue fin tuna further endangered (http://www.examiner.com/article/environmentalists-fight-to-save-jeopardized-bluefin-tuna)

4. A “graveyard of corals” on the floor of the Gulf (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/26/gulf-oil-spill-coral-death_n_1380712.html)

5. Tar balls “teeming” with deadly Vibrio vulnificus bacteria (http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/03/no-sign-of-oyster-recovery-two-years-after-bp-oil-spill/) (akin to the one that causes cholera) still being deposited on Gulf beaches. (http://youtu.be/VhPQsUXUrA8):

6. Much reduced oyster catches, and increased heavy metals in oysters (http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/04/heavy-metal-oysters), along with increased vibrio vulnificus bacterial infections in oysters.

7. Seriously ill dolphins (http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/gulf-dolphins-exposed-to-oil-are-seriously-ill-agency-says/). Some washed up on the beach (http://youtu.be/COHsjknffdQ):

8. Petroleum pollution in pelican eggs (http://mn.audubon.org/newsroom/news-stories/2012/bp-oil-spill-residue-found-minnesota-pelican-eggs) far from the Gulf, years later, following on initial images of Oil-drenched pelicans (http://youtu.be/oOzp8pisDPI):

9. Disruption of nitrogen cycle of key microorganisms (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/04/pictures/120420-gulf-oil-spill-impact-studies/#/deepwater-horizon-small-organism_51859_600x450.jpg) in Gulf waters, on which crabs and others feed.

10. Damage to plant life on Gulf islands and along the shore (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/04/pictures/120420-gulf-oil-spill-impact-studies/#/deepwater-horizon-spartina-alterniflora_51878_600x450.jpg).

http://www.juancole.com/2012/11/top-ten-true-costs-of-bp-gulf-oil-spill.html

[DMC]

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (http://www.mysanantonio.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news%2Ftexas&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Eric+Holder%22) will speak in New Orleans about the government's $4.5 billion settlement with BP over the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/texas/article/US-AG-sets-news-conference-on-BP-spill-settlement-4039947.php#ixzz2CJY7wEEv

per gallon spilled, was to be over $20B.

$4.5B is not even one qtr of BP profits




Wait, but it's not about total profit, but profit margin, or so I was told. Invest big, profit big. People bitched when I pointed out that BP was profitable in the mega billions just a year later. Someone didn't pay their fair share.

[DMC]

Top Ten True costs of BP Gulf Oil Spill (http://www.juancole.com/2012/11/top-ten-true-costs-of-bp-gulf-oil-spill.html)

1. Fish with lesions and oozing sores. (http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html) Dr. Jim Cowan: “The fishermen have never seen anything like this… And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20 and 30,000 fish, I’ve never seen anything like this either.”

2. Eyeless shrimp.

Easier to catch


3. Already-endangered blue fin...

Wildlife viscosity greatly enhanced.


4. A “graveyard of corals” on the floor of the Gulf (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/26/gulf-oil-spill-coral-death_n_1380712.html)

Cheaper than getting Mexicans to lay tile down there.


5. Tar balls “teeming” with deadly Vibrio vulnificus bacteria (http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/03/no-sign-of-oyster-recovery-two-years-after-bp-oil-spill/) (akin to the one that causes cholera) still being deposited on Gulf beaches. (http://youtu.be/VhPQsUXUrA8):

Those are the locals, satellite view can be deceiving.


6. Much reduced oyster catches, and increased heavy metals in oysters (http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/04/heavy-metal-oysters), along with increased vibrio vulnificus bacterial infections in oysters.

Sounds like a market for oyster antibiotics.



7. Seriously ill dolphins (http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/gulf-dolphins-exposed-to-oil-are-seriously-ill-agency-says/). Some washed up on the beach (http://youtu.be/COHsjknffdQ):

Never had beached dolphins before. However, that keeps them out of the tuna nets.



8. Petroleum pollution in pelican eggs (http://mn.audubon.org/newsroom/news-stories/2012/bp-oil-spill-residue-found-minnesota-pelican-eggs) far from the Gulf, years later, following on initial images of Oil-drenched pelicans (http://youtu.be/oOzp8pisDPI):

Pelicans are overrated.



9. Disruption of nitrogen cycle of key microorganisms (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/04/pictures/120420-gulf-oil-spill-impact-studies/#/deepwater-horizon-small-organism_51859_600x450.jpg) in Gulf waters, on which crabs and others feed.

They will have to eat non-key microorganisms until N2 service can be restored.



10. Damage to plant life on Gulf islands and along the shore (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/04/pictures/120420-gulf-oil-spill-impact-studies/#/deepwater-horizon-spartina-alterniflora_51878_600x450.jpg).

Plants can grow back, but oil soaked wood makes great garage flooring.



http://www.juancole.com/2012/11/top-ten-true-costs-of-bp-gulf-oil-spill.html







Sounds like BP enhanced the area.

[boutons_deux]

BP Will "Kill Again," Former EPA Officials, Attorney Warn

Is a record $4.5 billion fine, guilty pleas to 14 charges and the indictment of three employees enough of a deterrent to stop "serial environmental criminal" BP from placing profits before safety?


If history is any guide, Scott West believes the answer is a resounding, "No."


West is a former veteran special agent-in-charge at the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division. In 2006, he led an investigation into BP and the oil behemoth's senior officials for alleged crimes associated with an oil spill that year at BP's Prudhoe Bay operations on Alaska's North Slope, one of which spilled more than 200,000 gallons of oil across two acres of frozen tundra - the second largest spill in Alaska's history, which went undetected for a week.


West, who was profiled in an investigative report published in Truthout a month after the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf that killed 11 rig workers, said he felt an ongoing investigation would have revealed enough evidence to convict the company and "very senior officials on felony charges . . . . The Bush DOJ shut it down before it had reached any logical conclusion," West told Truthout "My investigation should have lasted another two years or so."

"BP can easily pay it. It may not be enough to get BP to change its corporate culture until senior people are actually held personally accountable for decisions that led to the Texas City refinery explosion, the spills in Alaska and Deepwater Horizon."

BP's wide-ranging violations, due in part to the type of corporate culture West, Coon and Breuer said exists at the company, have resulted in more than $10 billion in civil and criminal penalties over the past 17 years. Yet, each time the federal government penalizes BP, the company pays its fine and promises to implement new policies to address safety shortcomings. But BP rarely follows through - as evidenced most significantly by more than 700 infractions identified by federal regulators in 2010 at its refineries and alleged neglect at its other drilling rig in the Gulf called Atlantis - and ends up paying more fines and getting another slap on the wrist.

http://truth-out.org/news/item/12815-bp-will-kill-again-former-epa-officials-attorney-says

[Halberto]

For someone who hates oil companies so much, you really are clueless about the actual business.

[boutons_deux]

For someone who hates oil companies so much, you really are clueless about the actual business.

gfy

[boutons_deux]

BP hit with new $34 billion Deepwater Horizon claim from southern state governments

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/000_GYI0060899643-615x345.jpg

BP has been hit by a new $34bn (£21.7bn) claim for alleged economic losses and punitive damages resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The latest demand comes from local and southern state governments, including Louisiana and Mississippi, hit hard by the pollution that followed the blowout on the BP-operated Macondo well in April 2010.

BP described the methodology for calculating the claims as “seriously flawed” and the oil company said it was confident it would not have to make additional financial provisions.

BP refused to say what provisions it has already made for the $34bn claims, but admits to having taken a further $4.1bn “charge” in the final three months of 2012, bringing the total amount set aside so far to $42.2bn.

The bill so far for the Deepwater Horizon disaster

1. Beach and other cleanup costs – $14bn

2. Early claims settled – $9bn

3. Early restoration projects – $1bn

Plus major legal settlements:

4. Criminal charges with the department of justice – $4bn

5. Individual and small businesses claims through a plaintiff steering committee – $7.8bn

6. Securities and Exchange Commission claims – $525m

Outstanding:

7. Claims from local and state governments – $34bn

8. Worst case scenario damages under a Clean Water Act – $21bn

9. Natural resource damages – (unquantified)

BP has won back $5bn from well equity partners Anadarko and Mitsui.

No settlement yet with rig operator Transocean or contractor Halliburton.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/05/bp-hit-with-new-34-billion-deepwater-horizon-claim-from-southern-state-governments/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29