BP Oil Spill: Prosecutors Reportedly Preparing Criminal Charges

Federal prosecutors are preparing the first criminal charges against BP in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst of its kind in U.S. history, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The charges, reportedly to be revealed early next year, center around several engineers and may include providing false information about the risks of drilling in the Guld of Mexico in federal documents, the WSJ reported.

The charge carries a penalty of a fine as well as up to five years imprisonment.

People familiar with the matter told NPR that no final decisions have been made about the charges, adding that even if prosecutors go ahead with the charges, attorneys for the engineers will have a chance to appeal to other Justice Department officials. BP spokesmen declined to comment to Bloomberg Businessweek on the WSJ report.

The Deepwater Horizon spill off of the coast of Louisiana in 2010 killed 11 and led to more than 200 million gallons of oil spewing under the water. After three months of searching for solutions, the well was finally capped, but not before the oil destroyed hundreds of miles of coastline and devastated the tourism and fishing industries.

The full economic impact of the oil spill is still unknown, with economists' estimates expected to trickle in sometime next year, the Press-Register reports. Shortly after the spill, economists predicted that in a worst case scenario, the disaster would cost Alabama about two percent of its economic output. Still, the spill's effects weren't limited to states like Alabama, which were directly impacted. Businesses around the country were forced to contened with the spill's aftermath; in restaurants as far away as New York City, business owners felt the pinch of a seafood price hike, according to CBS News.

As of March, the spill had cost BP $41 billion and severely damaged the company's reputation. In addition, it likely cost BP's former CEO Tony Hayward his job.

In October, the Obama administration granted BP permission to resume exploratory drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, saying that the company's plans met the administration's standards for deepwater drilling. But if the crisis were ever to happen again, the same laws would still be in place.

Despite a push from some Democrats to raise the cap on the amount that companies are required to pay to cover economic damages from an oil spill, the legislation never came to fruition.

Still, BP did set up a $20 billion compensation fund for victims of the spill. The Justice Department named BDO Consulting to conduct an independent audit of the claims fund, which is expected in March.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[oilfield]

04:45 PM on 12/31/2011

next trial....volt engineers.

[Harpro208]

11:42 AM on 01/01/2012

No gasoline powered cars have ever caught fire?

[oilfield]

07:51 PM on 01/01/2012

we can go after them after....

[oilfield]

04:41 PM on 12/31/2011

can we hold the government accountable for its costs estimates? how about the administration and its wrangling of facts?

[Mike Keohane]

01:06 PM on 12/31/2011

Obama smells some votes, that's all there is to it. Miserable record of inaction and failure. Blames others for everything. Appearances become reality.

[JoeTroll]

02:52 PM on 12/31/2011

Well, at least YOU haven't fallen prey to the endless repetition of talking points. There's still hope for us.

[oilfield]

04:41 PM on 12/31/2011

purely political.....how about the climategate folks being on trial next.

[Ray Wigton]

12:38 AM on 12/31/2011

The $350 million Deepwater Horizon is a 33,000 ton ship. Leased from Transocean for $1 million/day. This ship had to stay centered over a well 5000 ft below, just over the continental shelf in the Mississippi Canyon, and stay there. The crew on this drill site had gone seven years without a 'lost time' accident. They were seasoned and highly skilled. The Macondo well was budgeted at 96.2 million and given 51 days to drill 2 1/2 miles deep beneath the ocean floor. The Marianas had drilled the first 4,000 ft of the well earlier but had to pull out for Hurricane Ida. On April 20, BP was six weeks behind schedule and $58 million over budget. They called off the cement evaluation team to save $128,000 because everyone said that Haliburton's cementing "went well." Now we know better. Every morning at 7:30, the rig leaders had to do a conference call with the corporate execs in Houston to explain their problems and delays and be reminded of the cost. 35000 people work the gulf oil field on 90 drilling rigs and 3,500 platforms. Among this force, there had been 1,550 injuries, 60 deaths, and 948 fires and explosions since 2001.

We CAN do this job safely. The big boys wanted to save a few dollars by cutting corners and it has cost BP 11 dead, more than $20 billion, - the overall cost about $50 billion. Great job execs, give yourselves a bonus!

[oilfield]

04:44 PM on 12/31/2011

i think all execs in the oilfield learned what liability costs from this accident. i dont think there will be a repeat even without changing one law.

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

10:33 PM on 12/31/2011

You don't think there will be a repeat? You've missed near a dozen since!

[jayx002]

09:58 PM on 12/30/2011

i am not in favor of big companies or government giving them free passes
but how much does this company has to pay? until all their money is gone?
and then everyone that works for them is without a job?

[JoeTroll]

02:54 PM on 12/31/2011

If corporations are people, let them face the justice system like people. After all, if they fold, others will fill the void, right? That's the wonder and glory of the free market.

[RealistBC]

03:44 PM on 12/30/2011

Rest assured I won't be holding my breath while this comes to a close. I know it's only PR intended to boost BP's image and make the most of their expensive ad campaign. The one which claims they fixed the Gulf and it's OK to eat and play there again.

[Karma2U]

03:36 PM on 12/30/2011

Want to help the economy and the environment? Come clean - go green with Solar energy.

Ask yourself how many deaths and how much water and air pollution is caused by solar panels, then take a drive around the roadways of Florida, Oregon, etc and notice how many big energy companies have realized the benefit of solar panels by installing them along major highways.

[signgrrl]

01:25 PM on 12/31/2011

in Vero Beach, solar is powering traffic signals, a godsend after hurricanes blow through and electricity is out.

[Karma2U]

02:36 PM on 12/31/2011

They also have solar generators now.

[dad4lifesl]

01:36 PM on 12/31/2011

The technology to completely get off fossil fuels is not there yet. We are still decades away from being able to make a transition from oil and coal to something different. Nuclear energy is a very good alternative right now but it has its own problems and risks. In my humble opinion, I believe there are better and cleaner sources of energy but it will take many many years to discover and to become an alternative. Trying to force any sort of transition before the technology is ready is irresponsible.

[JoeTroll]

02:56 PM on 12/31/2011

So is subsidizing profitable oil companies instead of supporting alternative research.

[Dan Covey]

02:47 PM on 12/30/2011

On the surface it sounds good. However, if BP does get fined, they won't pay a dime as they will just raise the price of gasoline to make up for the fine plus extra. Besides, they are also getting federal subsidies which they can just turn around and use that money, ....from us.... so they can stay in business,....to pay back their fine. BIG BUSINESS HAS CONTROL OF WE COMMON PEOPLE. .....O well, what else is new. Happy New Year to all of you.

[CanadaStan]

04:30 PM on 12/30/2011

What subsidies are they getting?
Details please.

[RealistBC]

04:40 PM on 12/30/2011

Start with depletion allowances. Once you get through that swamp, you will have your answer.

[dukesman2000]

11:35 AM on 12/30/2011

Call me when you guys get to Wall Street

[Haditup2here]

11:28 AM on 12/30/2011

The sad part is that it will probably only be engineers to be prosecuted and not those in management who were driving many of the decisions.

[Daryl Motte]

11:49 AM on 12/30/2011

I agree- http://werejustnotthereyet.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-bp-oil-is-just-like-your-ex.html?zx=1d9e6f8b8c805e2

[RealistBC]

04:41 PM on 12/30/2011

The corporate grandmaster has pawns to sacrifice in order to save the king, don't you know. His survival IS the game. Everyone else, not so much.

[I Think]

09:29 AM on 12/30/2011

The criminal prosecutions will probably run out of time before the tiny slaps on the wrist are delivered.
We can expect that nothing will change, as long as politicians are in the pay of corporations and sig's.

[CanadaStan]

04:31 PM on 12/30/2011

Who was paying the Fast and Furious crooks?
Corporations, or gummint?

[Staff IranConoco]

09:18 AM on 12/30/2011

Good news! Maybe DoJ Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Breuer is finally putting a stop to the corrupt practices by careerist U.S. Attorneys under his supervision who use "prosecutor discretion" in selectively not prosecuting their prospective future employers -- corporations and "lawbyer" (lawyer-lobbyer) firms corporations hired to cover-up criminal homicides by the likes of BP and BP's sometime partner ConocoPhillips (see http://Iran-Conoco-Affair.US and http://UnCoverUp.net).

[RealistBC]

04:42 PM on 12/30/2011

A-HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa...

Under Obama?

A-HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa...

[CanadaStan]

07:04 PM on 12/31/2011

First, you have to drag him off the golf course, then you have to get one of his crooks to look into it, then they have to do a analysis of how many votes they can gain and how much money they can extort out of anyone involved.

It's a complicated business, way harder than community organizing...

[sunsetter]

09:03 AM on 12/30/2011

YOu should all owe a debt of gratitude to BP. Exxon, Haliburton etc. Without them producing low cost plentiful energy, life as you know know it would simply not exist. I know that fact may be hard for you to comprehend, but it is true. Your computer, bike, car, airline, house, apartment, food, cell phone, furniture ----- pretty much everything you touch or own has oil, gas or coal associated with it.

By any metric, humanity is better off with cheap plentiful energy. The nature of life is to consume to survive or be consumed. I prefer the former.

[RealistBC]

04:44 PM on 12/30/2011

And should I also thank them for the water which bursts into flame when it leaves my faucet? Should I also thank them for the air which is so polluted you can taste it, and which caused me to develop COPD? Should I thank them for the shrimp which makes me thing I accidentally put my car's dipstick in my mouth instead of food?

Nice try. Cash the check before they stop payment on it. You have about 5 minutes.

[sunsetter]

11:21 PM on 12/30/2011

Your claims are implausible. Typical dem progressive - making things up because you feel strongly about something.

If what you believe where true, bodies would be stacked up like chord wood all over the country. Frankly, I haven't seen that happening, have you?

[gtt]

08:47 AM on 12/30/2011

"People familiar with the matter told NPR that no final decisions have been made about the charges, adding that even if prosecutors go ahead with the charges, attorneys for the engineers will have a chance to appeal to other Justice Department officials."
____________

What? This appeal to a higher authority within the Justice Dept.sounds like special treatment that is not available to other charged defendants. The supervisors in the Justice Dept. will certainly be involved in the initial charging decision. If they believe charges are not justified then the charges should not be filed in the first place. If the attorneys for the accused don't like the case, then they can take it to trial. A pre arraignment appeal to higher ups in the department just sounds like an opportunity to apply political pressure. Take it to trial or suck eggs.

[dayzee10]

08:29 AM on 12/30/2011

Whatever became of that deceitful bastid Tony Haywood???

[RealistBC]

04:45 PM on 12/30/2011

He got his life back. He's been hiding to keep the Gulf fishermen he ruined from taking it away again.