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BP Found ‘Grossly Negligent’ In Gulf Oil Spill
September 5, 2014
BP now stands to pay up to $17 billion in Clean Water Act fines after a judge on Thursday ruled the oil company was “grossly negligent” in its conduct leading up to the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010.
While the judge’s decision did not surprise groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund, the swiftness of the decision did, said Steve Cochran, director of the fund’s Mississippi River Restoration Project.
“People did not expect this to occur until sometime next year,” he said. “For those of us who work on restoration, the main thing we’re interested in is, ‘Let’s get this settled,’ so that the resources can flow to places like Florida.”
The finding of “gross negligence” means BP is liable for fines under the Clean Water Act of up to four times the established penalty per barrel of oil spilled. A trial is to begin in January to establish how much was spilled; the federal government estimates more than 4 million barrels, while BP insists the total is a little more than half that amount.
Ultimately, much of the money will go into the Gulf Restoration Fund, established by Congress to help manage the fines collected for projects to help repair damage from the oil spill. Beyond that, Cochran said, the judge’s ruling sends a clear message to other offshore drilling operations.
“This case says very clearly at this point, ‘If you don’t take your responsibility seriously, and you let something like this happen, you’re going to pay dearly for it,’ ” Cochran said.
Cochran and others said the ruling also increases the company’s liability for civil penalties under the Clean Water Act. BP said it strongly disagrees with the decision issued Thursday and will immediately appeal. The two other parties involved in the spill, Halliburton and Transocean, were ruled to be “negligent.”
by The Florida News Connection
Comments
6 Responses to “BP Found ‘Grossly Negligent’ In Gulf Oil Spill”
Confused,
Yeah, that looks like a jack-up drilling rig, not a semi-submersible.
Still, it was most likely intended to be a visual aid of a drilling rig in the water and a fire.
David for crews who take safety seriously
LOL, I like this judge that made this ruling so quickly.
He eliminated a year of billable hours by hundreds of lawyers.
He knew whatever way he ruled, either side would immediately appeal the decision.
So why bother to waste months of his time to study the facts and render a decision months from now that he knows will be appealed to another court, right?
Might as well kick the can up the up the steps quickly all the way to the Supreme Court.
Lessee, at a Government estimate of 4.9 million Barrels (Wikipedia), times $4,300 (the per barrel fine for oil discharged under Gross Negligence), that is a $21.07 Billion fine. News sources say the fine should be $17 Billion or 80% of $21.07 Billion.
I guess I’m not versed in higher math.
Or, maybe the government has backed off on their estimate?
This isn’t a quick- fix situation and what amazes me is that it has become obvious BP wanted the oil and had no plan in place for capping the well in an emergency. It still sickens me to think of those films of the oil pouring out into the gulf for weeks. They need to pay for as long as they are pumping oil out of the gulf. I cannot feel sorry for a corporation making money at the cost of such a beautiful part of nature. Freedom of speech is alive and well in this case and we speak for those who have to live in that water and are voiceless.
BP and the other big dollar companies will fight and stall this in courts for many years.
It will be a miracle if our great-grandchildren ever hear of a reduced amount settlement on the oil spill.
We have to ask, how wise is it for our local government agencies and other county agencies to jump into spending the BP millions without having the money in the bank?
I seem to recall that Halliburton had used an improper mix of concrete in the well so it is surprising (really..??) to hear they were found to be so minimally responsible, “negligent”.
Municipal governments and individuals it may be best to follow the adage, “Don’t count your chicks before the checks clear”.
Now if some of that money would actually go to people that work in the oil field and were put out of work for 10 months or better it’d be great. But it won’t. It would have been a bit better journalism if the picture was the Macondo semi that sunk. Not reporting with all the facts (pictures included) is disrespectful of the killed and injured.