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Halliburton admits destroying evidence in Gulf
of Mexico explosion
“HALLIBURTON, the US energy services
giant, has admitted destroying evidence relating to the 2010 Deepwater
Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
A Justice Department statement released late on Thursday said the company had
agreed to plead guilty to criminal conduct that occurred when it was carrying
out its own post-accident investigation.
Eleven people died and 4.9 million barrels of
oil gushed into the Gulf over a three-month period after the explosion, the
worst such disaster in American history. BP – who leased Deepwater Horizon -
ended up paying billions of dollars in compensation and cleanup costs.
Halliburton Energy Services, BP’s contractor,
had been accused by the British oil giant of destroying evidence. BP has also
asked Halliburton to pay damages stemming from the April 2010 accident off
the coast of Louisiana.
The Justice Department statement said
Halliburton – which constructed the cement casing of the well at the centre
of the disaster – had carried out its own internal investigations in May and
June the same year.
However, the results of computer simulations
conducted as part of that probe were ordered to be destroyed and were never
recovered, it said.
In addition to a guilty plea – which is
subject to court approval – Halliburton has agreed to pay the maximum
statutory fine of $US200,000 ($217,650).
The company said in a statement that it would
make a separate and voluntary $US55 million payment to the National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation.
The disaster wreaked havoc on the Gulf
region’s environment and economy.
The central subject of the cooperation and
guilty plea deal was the number of heavy metal collars, known as
centralisers, placed at various points on the cement casing of the Macondo
well that eventually exploded.
The Justice Department said that prior to the
blowout, Halliburton had recommended that 21 centralisers be used, but BP
instead opted for six.
Halliburton’s post-accident tests failed to back
up its earlier suggestion.
“These simulations indicated that there
was little difference between using six and 21 centralisers. (The) Program
Manager was directed to, and did, destroy these results,” the Justice
Department statement said.
In a later incident in or around June 2010,
similar evidence was also destroyed when Halliburton’s cementing technology
director asked another more experienced employee to repeat the simulations.
When he “reached the same
conclusion” he was directed to “get rid of” the simulations,
the statement said.
“In agreeing to plead guilty, Halliburton
has accepted criminal responsibility for destroying the aforementioned
evidence,” the Justice Department added.
Halliburton’s statement said the agreement
with the Justice Department would conclude the criminal investigation into
its actions over the giant spill.
“A Halliburton subsidiary has agreed to
plead guilty to one misdemeanour violation associated with the deletion of
records created after the Macondo well incident, to pay the statutory maximum
fine of $US200,000 and to accept a term of three years probation,” it
said.
Several government probes have castigated BP,
rig operator Transocean and Halliburton for cutting corners and missing
warning signs that could have prevented the disaster.
Last year, BP agreed to pay $US4.5 billion in
penalties and pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges relating to the
explosion and ensuing spill.
The company also spent more than $US14 billion
on the response and cleanup and has paid another $US10 billion to businesses,
individuals and local governments that did not join an ongoing class action
lawsuit.”
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/halliburton-admits-destroying-evidence-in-gulf-of-mexico-explosion/story-fndir2ev-1226686617537#ixzz2aD5VOPDs
Dave404.
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=283319
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