The Norman Transcript

Headlines

Discussion

November 16, 2012

BP agrees to pay $4.5B; three charged

The Associated Press Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — A day of reckoning arrived for BP on Thursday as the oil giant agreed to plead guilty to a raft of criminal charges and pay a record $4.5 billion in a settlement with the government over the deadly 2010 disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Three BP employees were charged, two of them with manslaughter.

The settlement and the indictments came two-and-a-half years after the drilling-rig explosion that killed 11 workers and set off the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The settlement includes nearly $1.3 billion in fines — the biggest criminal penalty in U.S. history — along with payments to entities inside and outside government. As part of the deal, BP will plead guilty to charges related to the deaths of the 11 workers and to lying to Congress.

“We believe this resolution is in the best interest of BP and its shareholders,” said Carl-Henric Svanberg, BP chairman. “It removes two significant legal risks and allows us to vigorously defend the company against the remaining civil claims.”

Also, BP rig workers Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine were indicted on federal charges of manslaughter and involuntary manslaughters, accused of repeatedly disregarding abnormal high-pressure readings that should have been indications of trouble just before the blowout.

In addition, David Rainey, BP’s vice president of exploration for the Gulf of Mexico at the time, was indicted on charges of obstruction of Congress and making false statements. Prosecutors said he withheld information that indicated the amount of oil spewing from the well was greater than he let on.

Rainey’s lawyers said the former executive did “absolutely nothing wrong.” And attorneys for the two rig workers accused the Justice Department of making scapegoats out of them.

The settlement, which is subject to approval, includes payments of nearly $2.4 billion to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, $350 million to the National Academy of Sciences and about $500 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For local news and more, subscribe to The Norman Transcript Smart Edition, or our print edition.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Headlines
  • Oklahoma Tornado Disoriented and displaced residents make their way back to devastated homes

    Sparks of joy lit up grief-stricken eyes from time to time on Wednesday after Moore residents were allowed back into their neighborhoods for the first time after Monday’s EF-5 tornado devastated much of the city....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • dog_wreckage More shelters in forecast

    MOORE — Ten children are dead, and Mayor Glenn Lewis wants tornado shelters included in all new homes built in Moore. A proposed municipal ordinance would require a shelter either inside or outside....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • clean up 19 School administrators focused on the recovery, future

    MOORE — Just days after Moore Public Schools suffered the loss of nine students and complete destruction of Plaza Towers and Briarwood Elementary schools, administrators take it a day at a time, as details continue to emerge from affected ...

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Challpress1 State Senate approves $45 million from Rainy Day fund for relief

    OKLAHOMA CITY — The state Senate voted Wednesday to take $45 million from the state Rainy Day Fund for immediate tornado disaster relief....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • tornadomom Mother endures labor during tornado

    Shayla Taylor was ready to give birth to her second child just as the impending destruction of Monday’s EF-5 tornado bore down on the Moore Medical Center....

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Oklahoma visitor had brush with tornado’s fury

    MOORE — Tim Lawrence was just in town to visit his family, but he had to huddle close with them in a storm cellar Monday afternoon as the tornado swept through the neighborhood....

    May 23, 2013

  • City manager has been through it all before

    MOORE — Huddled in his city’s emergency operations center Monday afternoon, Moore City Manager Steve Eddy watched as a massive tornado prepared to tear through his community....

    May 23, 2013

  • Families mourn children lost in tornado

    MOORE — Nicknamed “The Wall,” 8-year-old Kyle Davis loved soccer and going to Monster Truck exhibitions at the fairgrounds with his grandfather. JaNae Hornsby, 9, loved to draw, sing, and be a big sister and cousin to her younger ...

    May 23, 2013

  • ‘A lot more good people’

    MOORE — Rosella Poff’s gravestone was laid in Moore Cemetery just nine months ago....

    May 23, 2013

  • Moore and Joplin share common bond in the aftermath

    MOORE — Zach Woodcock knew the storms were going to be bad on May 22, 2011, so turning on the Weather Channel was a natural instinct. What he saw filled him with fear. The Moore resident’s family lived in Joplin, Mo....

    May 23, 2013