We’ve written why expanding oil drilling won’t solve our energy problems but the April 20th explosion at a Transocean/BP operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico claimed the lives of 11 workers and is now leaking 5,000 barrels of oil every day into the gulf.
Transocean manages 141 other deepwater oil rigs around the globe, including 15 others in the Gulf of Mexico. Back in 2008 we identified Transocean as one of the companies set to extract oil from the Gulf of Mexico and won’t pay any royalties to the US taxpayer, through its Challenger Minerals subsidiary.
BP is a London-based oil company with one of the worst safety records of any oil company operating in America. In just the last few years, BP has paid $485 million in fines and settlements to the US government for environmental crimes, willful neglect of worker safety rules, and penalties for manipulating energy markets.
In October 2009, BP paid the largest fine in OSHA history – $87.43 million – for willful negligence that led to the deaths of 15 workers in a March 2005 refinery explosion in Texas and an additional $50 million paid to the Department of Justice for the same incident. And just last month, BP paid $3 million fine to OSHA for 42 willful safety violations at one of its refineries in Ohio.
In March 2006, BPs neglect of one of its major oil pipelines in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska led to an oil leak that resulted in BP paying $20 million to settle allegations it violated the clean water act.
BP also was forced to pay $303 million to settle allegations it manipulated the US propane market, was fined $18 million for market manipulation during the California energy crisis and paid a separate $3 million settlement for similar market manipulation charges.
Tyson Slocum is the Director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program.
PanAm
More fines are needed and more oversight of the policies of operation on the derricks is needed.
April 30, 2010 at 9:48 am
charles roemer
This will define Obama. The man approved drilling without guidelines.
There is no difference between the levee of Katrina and the lack of a safety valve in the Gulf.
The fact that our leaders have not seen this is a question all voters must think about.
April 30, 2010 at 9:11 pm
PanAm
I agree overall, and add that “This will [not]define Obama…” if the press continues to give him “a free pass”…
May 2, 2010 at 10:40 am
bptr
Dick Cheney is responsible for this disaster!!!
“Mike Papantonio, an environmental lawyer on the Ed Show just now: An ‘acoustic switch’ would have prevented this catastrophe – it’s a failsafe that shuts the flow of oil off at the source – they cost only about half a million dollars each, and are required in off-shore drilling platforms in most of the world…except for the United States. This was one of the new deregulations devised by Dick Cheney during his secret meetings with the oil industry at the beginning of Bush’s first term.”
May 3, 2010 at 4:57 am
BP Faces More Oil Fines « NewsRadio 1020 KDKA
[...] Public Citizen’s Tyson Slocum tells Mike Pintek that British Petroleum continues to rack up fines for violations. player.render("fileUrl=http://cbskdkaam.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/pintek_oil-spill.mp3&name=The+Mike+Pintek+Show&artist=The+Mike+Pintek+Show&stationID=&configFile=config.xml&guid=206ed2c7bf96bf0f5b3f017441266e2c&buttonColor=0x017cbe&buttonOverColor=0×026499&backgroundColor=0xFFFFFF"); [...]
May 3, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Thanks BP » Blog Archive » FP: Back to Petroleum
[...] another $3 million just this March for safety violations at an Ohio refinery. The company has paid $485 million in fines in the United States alone in just the past five [...]
May 5, 2010 at 1:33 am
R H Reddy
“Corporate Citizens” should be subject to the same laws as private citizens. BP already has two felony convictions. This most recent crime looks like Strike Three to me.
BP: Too big to jail ?
May 6, 2010 at 9:39 am
BP Oil Spill Highlights Poor Safety Record, the Worst of Any Oil Company in America « Beyond Thoughts
[...] “Heckava Job, BP…the company’s $485 million in fines” (Public Citizen) [...]
May 6, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Marée noire sur la com de BP | Actualité Internationale
[...] dans une raffinerie de l’Ohio. Rien que ces cinq dernières années, la compagnie a payé 485 millions de dollars (369 millions d’euros) d’amendes aux [...]
May 6, 2010 at 4:04 pm
“Beyond Petroleum” or
[...] criminal convictions and fines for safety violations, the list of BP’s misdeeds goes on and on. BP’s record has led Tyler Slocum, Director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, [...]
May 9, 2010 at 3:02 am
Deepwater horizon: an event horizon for the oil age? | Dangerous Intersection
[...] them. They have paid $485 million in fines in the U.S. alone in the past five years. BP paid $87.43 million to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in October 2009 — the largest fine in [...]
May 26, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Should the FDA have more power over our food system? « Urban Garden Solutions Blog
[...] of Public Citizen, BP had one of the worst safety records of any oil company operating in America. BP has paid $485 million in fines and settlements to the US government, but continues to do business as usual. Could the same thing happen with a [...]
December 10, 2010 at 8:00 pm