| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
BP To Pay Largest Criminal Fine In U.S. History For Deepwater Horizon Disaster
First published on ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which was recently named one of Time magazine’s Top 25 blogs of 2010.
BP has agreed to pay a historic $4.5 billion criminal fine over a six-year period, after pleading guilty to 11 felony counts and criminal charges for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 workers. After two years, the litigation is not yet over since BP faces damages from Gulf states and additional civil charges from the Justice Department.
Much of the fine, $2.4 billion, will go to Gulf of Mexico restoration, where 5 million barrels of oil spilled over 87 days. Even now, an estimated 1 million barrels of oil remain in the waters, with excess oil washing up on Louisiana beaches as recently as September. Oil-soaked pelicans and other wildlife continue to wash up on shores. The disaster’s other legacies have produced eyeless shrimp and fish with lesions.
BP has earned tens of billions in profit since the 2010 disaster. In the last quarter alone, BP earned $5.4 billion net profit, bringing its total for the year to $9.7 billion. The company retains $15 billion in cash reserves, and has also spent $15 million lobbying Congress since 2011.
 |
 |
2012-11-15 13:54:51
Source:
Yep, which will be passed on to the people who supplied them faulty equipment and the coast guard service for filling the structure up with water so it sank. It’s not like the coast guard didn’t know any better, seeing as they get specialised training for putting out fires on oil rigs,.. there are loads of them in the gulf.