“Court reduces company’s maximum fine a week before trial over blowout that dumped millions of gallons of oil into Gulf of Mexico.”
Justice Department deal reduces BP’s Deepwater Horizon fine by $3.4bn
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I followed the various hearings on the BP problem. There was no action by anybody to justify a negligence charge on anybody. My understanding is that fines are built into law triggered by spills from any cause. That is unfortunate because it punishes those following good practice as well as the careless. The rig itself had an excellent safety record just prior to the catastrophe.
To me the root cause was the policy to recruit almost exclusively from within. The crew in this case were wonderful guys who had difficulty interpreting data from the well. But I could be wrong, and we will never know for sure.