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BP Exploration sentenced for illegal North Slope dumping
by The Associated Press
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. was sentenced Feb. 1 to a $500,000 criminal fine for its involvement in an illegal waste-dumping case at the Endicott oil field on the North Slope.
Along with the criminal fine, BP agreed to $6.5 million in civil penalties and to spend $15 million to establish an environmental management system throughout its U.S. operations.
The program will include hiring an environmental monitor and regular audits of the company’s environmental practices.
“We consider it a very significant environmental crime case,” said Deborah Smith, deputy chief of the environmental crimes section at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. “The establishment of the nationwide environmental management system is very significant to avoid future environmental violations around the country.”
The company had pleaded guilty in September to charges that Doyon Drilling Inc., one of its contractors, illegally dumped hundreds of barrels of waste oil, paint thinner, solvents and other hazardous chemicals down oil well shafts at Endicott from 1993 to 1995.
Two week delay BP was charged with failing to report the illegal dumping in a timely matter.
Company officials said, after learning of the alleged violations, they didn’t report them to the Environmental Protection Agency for two weeks. They said they had thought federal environmental laws allowed them to determine whether the allegations were credible before reporting them.
Back in September, BP officials said they regretted the contractor’s actions and said the company has improved its procedures for monitoring environmental compliance.
Improvements made “It’s good to have this behind us,” BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell said Feb. 1. “We look forward to taking the improvements made in the environmental management system at Endicott and elsewhere on the North Slope to other BP Amoco locations across the U.S.”
BP maintains no environmental damage occurred from the dumping, but prosecutors say some of the material reached the surface.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Anchorage said BP’s penalties were mitigated because the company cooperated with investigators.
Doyon pleaded guilty in 1998 to 15 counts of violating federal oil pollution laws. It paid a $1 million fine and agreed to spend another $2 million on an environmental compliance program.
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