BP gets record US criminal fine over Deepwater disaster

BP has pleaded guilty to criminal conduct over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that led to the deaths of 11 people and caused the most significant environmental damage in the history of the United States.

The company will have to pay the most substantial criminal fine ever issued in US history - $4 billion (£2.52 billion) - the Department of Justice said. The company agreed to pay an additional $525 million (£330.5 million) to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in relation to civil securities fraud charges.

The two highest-ranking BP supervisors onboard the Deepwater Horizon have also been charged with 11 felony counts of seaman's manslaughter, 11 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and one violation of the Clean Water Act. In addition, BP's second-highest ranking representative at Unified Command during the spill response has been charged with obstruction of Congress and making false statements to law enforcement officials. 　

“The $4 billion in penalties and fines is the single largest criminal resolution in the history of the United States and constitutes a major achievement toward fulfilling a promise that the Justice Department made nearly two years ago to respond to the consequences of this epic environmental disaster and seek justice on behalf of its victims,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “We specifically structured this resolution to ensure that more than half of the proceeds directly benefit the Gulf Coast region so that residents can continue to recover and rebuild.”

Deepwater Horizon, an ultra-deepwater off-shore oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, sank in April 2010 after a blowout caused explosions that killed 11 of its crew. The oil spill that resulted was the worst in US history, lasting until July, and caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife as well as severely hurting the fishing industry in the area.

A January 2011 White House report placed the blame with BP, saying cost-cutting measures and a failure to give adequate consideration to appropriate safety measures had been the root cause. A final report, released later in the year, said Halliburton, a contractor that laid faulty cement in the well, and Deepwater Horizon owner Transocean also had some degree of culpability.

BP, after an internal probe, accepted mistakes had been made. A $20 billion fund was set up to compensate victims.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said in the wake of the $4 billion fine: “The explosion of the rig was a disaster that resulted from BP's culture of privileging profit over prudence. We hope that BP's acknowledgment of its misconduct - through its agreement to plead guilty to 11 counts of felony manslaughter - brings some measure of justice to the family members of the people who died onboard the rig.”

In addition to the criminal charges, the United States is also pursuing a civil action under the Clean Water Act in relation to damages to natural resources under the Oil Pollution Act, the Department of Justice added.

Louisiana Senator David Vitter said in a statement: ""With these unprecedented criminal penalties assessed, I urge the Obama administration to be equally aggressive in securing civil monies that can help save our Louisiana coast through the Restore Act and NRDA. I certainly hope they didn't trade any of those monies away just to nail this criminal scalp to the wall.”