BP Alaska Oil Spill Penalty To Cost Company $25 Million

WASHINGTON - BP has agreed to pay a $25 million civil penalty plus interest to settle a federal investigation into a 2006 pipeline oil spill on Alaska's North Slope, according to court papers filed on Tuesday.

The oil spill in Alaska is one of several environmental and safety problems has beset BP in the United States in recent years, including a deadly explosion at an oil refinery in Texas that killed 15 workers and most recently last year's historic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

To address the oil spill in Alaska, the company has "started implementation and operation of some corrective measures, including replacement of the Prudhoe Bay oil transit lines, improved leak detection on the oil transit lines, and improved operation and maintenance of the Pipeline System," the proposed consent decree said.

U.S. officials are expected to announce the settlement later on Tuesday.

BP's stock was down about 1 percent in both New York and London. The fine is small by oil industry standards at just $25 million.

The penalty is the result of BP violating the Clean Water Act when it spilled crude oil in waters on the North Slope of Alaska in the spring and summer of 2006.

The government said the company also violated the Clean Air Act when it improperly removed asbestos-containing materials from its pipelines during the same period.

BP also failed to perform certain corrective actions on its pipelines as ordered by the federal pipeline safety agency.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky and James Vicini; additional reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[DorianCorso]

08:46 PM on 05/05/2011

25 million ?

Is that supposed to be a joke ?

Seriously, it costs less to violate the clean water act than to prevent oil spills in the first place.
No wonder they skimp on safety and proper procedures.

[Mr Crabs]

03:47 PM on 05/05/2011

They'll just get it all back in subsidies.

[Jack Daniels Esq]

05:29 AM on 05/12/2011

Tax deductible - its a farce

[JoeMentia]

10:14 AM on 05/04/2011

That's it? What is that, about a day and a half's worth of profit?

[Brenda Starr]

09:56 AM on 05/04/2011

25 million? Ooh. That ought to ground the yacht and the jet for a couple of days.

[cats22]

11:18 PM on 05/03/2011

This is nothing! They had the Gulf oil spill and publicly claimed it was the most profitable year ever! BP is not going to pay this - you and I are in the form of higher gas prices. They will raise their prices, and make the public pay their fines.

[dtallwalk]

07:11 PM on 05/03/2011

we should not removed the boot as soon as we did
we need to put it up their As...

[intotheabyss]

06:37 PM on 05/03/2011

That'll teach 'em, NOT!

[Mitch Craft]

06:35 PM on 05/03/2011

BP could pay this with the change on there floor next to there bed.

[DorianCorso]

08:47 PM on 05/05/2011

They may have to look under the sofa cushions.

[ethicsbob88]

06:31 PM on 05/03/2011

Chump Change

[ihatepeople0 1]

06:10 PM on 05/03/2011

25 million?? That's nothing - should be 25 billion for what they did to the whole area...I wonder how many new drilling permints were given to BP lately......Disgusting

[bad spelling grammar]

06:05 PM on 05/03/2011

BP is scheduled to start drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in 2012, I guess it shows you how nothing has changed since both spills have taken place. How many times does a company need to complete destroy American natural resources until they are banned from doing business in the country? NEVER, they could have every rig they own explode and the government would still bend over for them with a smile. It’s pathetic; the America I know would march down to England grab BP board of directors and shake them upside down till every dollar they ever owned was ours.

[somnus00]

06:01 PM on 05/03/2011

Let's say I broke a law resulting in $1 million in profit. The government punishes me for breaking the law by giving me a $10,000 fine.

That's all the positive re-enforcement I'd need to continue breaking the law.

[rchwel]

07:48 PM on 05/03/2011

But steal some food to feed your family you get a fine you can't pay and prison time, yup justice is blind and fixed. Fanned

[proggirl]

05:59 PM on 05/03/2011

Let's make them obsolete. Make 'em scrap for their profits as smaller companies must. Switch to other energy sources at every possible opportunity.
Instead of responding to this reasonable suggestion with the inevitable string of complaints about how it won't work, I challenge the conservatives and supply siders to find ways to make it work. Stop complaining and be part of the solution.

[cabrobst]

05:47 PM on 05/03/2011

Chicken feed!
Make it 25 billion.
Better yet, seize BP assets the world over and execute the board of directors.

[breakingpoint]

05:44 PM on 05/03/2011

they the CEO and CFO should be arrested

[cabrobst]

05:49 PM on 05/03/2011

Shoot them in the head and throw them into the ocean like the terrorists they are.

[breakingpoint]

06:06 PM on 05/03/2011

Obama did it to OBL and these guys have cause more devastation