The federal government is set to issue new citations against BP, Transocean and Halliburton for alleged safety and environmental violations in connection with the 2010 Gulf oil spill, an Obama administration official said Monday.
Michael Bromwich, the outgoing head of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said citations called ”incidents of non compliance” that trigger the civil penalty process could be issued within the “next several weeks.” It is not clear which of the three firms could receive the citations, or what violations they may allege.
The three companies already face up to $45.7 million in fines for 15 separate alleged violations of offshore drilling rules. The new citations would build on those earlier notices by going beyond conclusions of a joint oil spill probe by the Interior Department and Coast Guard, Bromwich said.
The original citations were tied to that joint investigation team report, Bromwich told reporters.
But federal regulators subsequently reviewed documentation on the drilling of the well, Bromwich said, and the new citations ”will be a result of that deeper dive into some of the underlying materials that were not specifically addressed (in the joint investigation report).”
The April 20, 2010 blowout of BP’s Macondo well triggered a lethal explosion on board Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, killing 11 workers and unleashing the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
BP owned the well, which was drilled with Transocean’s rig and cemented by Halliburton Co.
In October, the safety bureau accused BP of violating seven offshore drilling regulations and hit Transocean and Halliburton with four citations each. The infractions range from failing to keep the Macondo well under control to working safely at the site.
The violations carry a penalty of up to $35,000 per day per incident. In the case of the oil spill, violations may have covered 87 days — the time crude was gushing into the Gulf — creating a maximum potential tab per incident of $3.05 million. But some infractions may cover just one day, with a total cost of just $35,000.
The action marks the first time the government has moved to sanction contractors for violating offshore regulations, a departure from the government’s traditional focus squarely on the oil and gas companies working on the outer continental shelf.
Transocean has signaled it would appeal. All three companies have until mid-December to challenge the initial incidents of non-compliance.
LEAVE BP ALONE…geez they have done more than asked for the Gulf Coast and the businesses.
Bleed them dry for bleeding into our Gulf.
The blowout resulted in the fatal explosions and offshore fire.
The largest oceantic oil spill in American History occurred when the MODU was scuttled.
The DETAILS of sinking the ship should be reported. Who paid those ‘fire-ships’ to sink the MODU. Water spray does not kill an oil fire.
I saw on the CBS TV network last night (after “60 Minutes”) a :60 “promo” commercial, pushing tourism to Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. At the very end of this commercial, there was BP’s logo and a message claiming that BP had paid for this prime-time air on CBS. Big deal. This was all just a PR scam: Bringing more tourism to the Gulf Coast states will not correct the damages BP has done environmentally.
Shouldn’t some angry uncivilized racist be screaming about putting his boot on those crackers throats to the blood thirsty cheers of his mentally challenged followers?
I see no reason to go after BP and their contractors again.
Any business organization who agrees to take-on the risk of drilling from a platform on the ocean should be insured by the federal government.
BP and its contractors are not going to stop the extreme demand for oil as that will take legislative action from congress.
Let’s be happy that someone will actually take the risk to meet our U.S. demand for oil until we can figure out some way to replace oil and all the products that are made from oil.
::
GP
Obama wants all of BPs money and he won’t stop until he gets it. Hasn’t Obama done enough?
There are little to no environmental damages along the Gulf Coast. The damage to tourism was done by the media sensationalizing the spill. BP has done everything possible to mitigate the actual damage and is now trying to pump up the tourism which was shut down by the Obama administration and the puppet media.
I worked for Seahawk, a shallow water driller that went bankrupt because the BOEM shut down all new permits in the GOM when this happened. However, because shallow water drilling was technically not part of the moritorium, according to BP and federal government, I didn’t lose my job as a result of this mess. My point is that none of us a Seahawk will see a dime of this money, and we actually suffered as a result of the spill.
Doubt if you would find a company out there that would do more to put things right than BP.
Had BP been an “American” company like Chevron and Exxon, you would barely have remembered the accident by now. The media and the grand standing politicians at the Washington Day Care have done more damage to the Gulf cost than any oil company could ever do.
Exxon’s Tillerson would have told the Obama administration to take a walk during the incident and come back after the show was over. BP could not do that.