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BP agrees to $20 million for Prudhoe spill
BP will pay $20 million and plead guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the federal Water Pollution Act for the largest oil spill ever on the North Slope, Justice Department officials said Oct. 25.
The $20 million is part of $373 million in fines and restitution the London-based oil giant agreed to pay for a variety of criminal acts.
The fines are the largest criminal assessments ever against a corporation for Clean Air Act violations and the first criminal prosecution of the requirement that refineries and chemical plants take steps to prevent accidental releases, the Environmental Protection Agency said.
The settlement was announced Oct. 25 in Washington and Anchorage. BP agreed to pay $50 million in connection with an explosion that killed 15 employees at a refinery in Texas. The company also was fined $303 million in connection with price manipulation of the propane market.
For its violations in Alaska, BP will pay $12 million in criminal fines to the federal government, $4 million in payments to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and $4 million in criminal restitution to the State of Alaska. The company was prosecuted in Alaska under the Clean Water Act.
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. will also plead guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the federal Water Pollution Act for the oil spill, Justice Department officials said.
DOJ: BP didn’t heed warnings The 201,000-gallon leak at the Prudhoe Bay field in March 2006 was the largest oil spill ever on the North Slope. Officials said the company failed to take necessary action to prevent the spill.
“Both leaks were the result of BP’s failure to heed many warning signs,” said Peter Keisler, acting U.S. attorney general, referring to the March leak and smaller leaks that lead to a shutdown at Prudhoe in August 2006. Nelson Cohen, U.S. attorney for Alaska, said the evidence showed that BP had not been spending enough to maintain North Slope pipelines, and that contributed to the leak.
“BP didn’t spend money that it should have spent.” The company knew there was a thick layer of sludge inside the pipes, and this led to corrosion and ultimately an almond-sized hole that resulted in the spill, Cohen said.
Cohen and Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg added that the action does not preclude future criminal prosecution of individuals or pursuit of a civil case against the company.
BP runs Prudhoe Bay, the nation’s largest oil field, on behalf of itself and other owners, including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.
—Erika Bolstad, Anchorage Daily News
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