BP probation hearing delayed until fall

Federal prosecutors plan to gather spill evidence in summer on Alaska’s North Slope to support allegations against oil company

Wesley Loy

For Petroleum News

An evidentiary hearing planned for late April on BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.’s alleged probation violations has been rescheduled for September.

A federal judge granted the delay at the request of the U.S. attorney’s office. In a Feb. 24 court filing, prosecutors said putting off the hearing would allow for summer field work on the North Slope to collect additional evidence.

BP Alaska was put on probation for three years after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act in connection with a major pipeline leak in 2006 in the Prudhoe Bay oil field.

Near the end of the probationary period, in November 2010, the company’s probation officer, Mary Frances Barnes, petitioned the court to revoke BP’s probation due to violations.

The violations center on an incident in November 2009 when a pipeline carrying a mix of crude oil, produced water and natural gas from wells to the Lisburne Production Center ruptured, discharging about 13,000 gallons of oil plus some water onto the tundra. Ice or hydrates formed and expanded inside the 18-inch line, causing overpressure and a rupture, Barnes said.

BP failed to follow preventative measures and failed to respond to persistent warning alarms, constituting criminal negligence, she said.

BP has denied violating its probation. If the allegations stick, the company could face more probation and millions of dollars in fines.

An evidentiary hearing was scheduled to begin April 25 and last three to five days.

But federal prosecutors asked the court to delay the hearing for several months.

“The United States seeks a continuance to the first week in September 2011 in order to collect additional evidence to establish that the spill at issue in the Petition to Revoke Probation occurred to a water of the United States for purposes of Clean Water Act jurisdiction,” the government’s Feb. 24 motion said. “The evidence necessary includes samples of the soil and plants as well as the hydrological flow at the location of the spill. These samples and the hydrological flow can only be obtained during the growing season on the North Slope, which does not start until June. Once the samples are collected, and the hydrological flow monitored, time will be needed to analyze the evidence.”

BP did not oppose the delay, and the hearing is now set to begin on Sept. 6.