WASHINGTON—BP Exploration and Production Inc. pleaded
guilty today to 14 criminal counts for its illegal conduct leading to
and after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and was sentenced
to pay $4 billion in criminal fianes and penalties, the largest criminal
resolution in U.S. history, Attorney General Holder announced today.
“Today’s guilty plea and sentencing represent a significant step
forward in the Justice Department’s ongoing efforts to seek justice on
behalf of those affected by one of the worst environmental disasters in
American history,” said Attorney General Holder. “I’m pleased to note
that more than half of this landmark resolution—which totals $4 billion
in penalties and fines and represents the single largest criminal
resolution ever—will help to provide direct support to Gulf Coast
residents as communities throughout the region continue to recover and
rebuild.”
“The Deepwater Horizon explosion was a national tragedy that
resulted in the senseless deaths of 11 people and immense environmental
damage,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division. “Through the tenacious work of the task
force, BP has received just punishment for its crimes leading up to and
following the explosion. The Justice Department will keep a watchful eye
on BP’s compliance with the plea agreement’s terms, including the
requirements of full cooperation with the department’s ongoing criminal
investigation, implementation of enhanced safety protocols, and
adherence to the recommendations of two newly installed monitors. Should
BP fail to comply, we will act swiftly and firmly.”
BP’s guilty plea was accepted and the sentence was imposed by U.S.
District Judge Sarah S. Vance of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
During the guilty plea and sentencing proceeding, Judge Vance found,
among other things, that the consequential fines imposed under the plea
agreement far exceed any imposed in U.S. history and are structured so
that BP will feel the full brunt of the penalties. She also noted that
the agreement provides just punishment and significant deterrence,
requiring detailed drilling safeguards, monitors, and other stringent,
special conditions of probation so that BP’s future conduct will be
closely watched.
BP pleaded guilty to each count charged in an information filed in
U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, including 11
counts of felony manslaughter, one count of felony obstruction of
Congress, and violations of the Clean Water and Migratory Bird Treaty
Acts. In its guilty plea today, BP admitted that, on April 20, 2010, the
two highest-ranking BP supervisors onboard the Deepwater Horizon,
known as BP’s “Well Site Leaders” or “company men,” negligently caused
the deaths of 11 men and the resulting oil spill. The company also
admitted that on that evening, the two well site leaders observed clear
indications that the Macondo well was not secure and that oil and gas
were flowing into the well but chose not to take obvious and appropriate
steps to prevent the blowout. Additionally, BP admitted that as a
result of the Well Site Leaders’ conduct, control of the Macondo well
was lost, resulting in catastrophe.
BP also admitted during its guilty plea that the company, through a
senior executive, obstructed an inquiry by the U.S. Congress into the
amount of oil being discharged into the Gulf while the spill was
ongoing. BP also admitted that the senior executive withheld documents,
provided false and misleading information in response to the U.S. House
of Representatives’ request for flow-rate information, manipulated
internal estimates to understate the amount of oil flowing from the well
and withheld data that contradicted BP’s public estimate of 5,000
barrels of oil per day. At the same time that the senior executive was
preparing his manipulated estimates, BP admitted, the company’s internal
engineering response teams were using sophisticated methods that
generated significantly higher estimates. The Flow Rate Technical Group,
consisting of government and independent scientists, later concluded
that more than 60,000 barrels per day were leaking into the Gulf during
the relevant time, contrary to BP’s representations to Congress.
According to the sentence imposed by Judge Vance pursuant to the plea
agreement, more than $2 billion dollars will directly benefit the Gulf
region. By order of the court, approximately $2.4 billion of the $4
billion criminal recovery is dedicated to acquiring, restoring,
preserving, and conserving—in consultation with appropriate state and
other resource managers—the marine and coastal environments, ecosystems,
and bird and wildlife habitat in the Gulf of Mexico and bordering
states harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This portion of
the criminal recovery is also to be directed to significant barrier
island restoration and/or river diversion off the coast of Louisiana to
further benefit and improve coastal wetlands affected by the oil spill.
An additional $350 million will be used to fund improved oil spill
prevention and response efforts in the Gulf through research,
development, education, and training.
BP was also sentenced to five years of probation—the maximum term of
probation permitted under law. The company is also required, according
to the order entered by the court pursuant to the plea agreement, to
retain a process safety and risk management monitor and an independent
auditor, who will oversee BP’s process safety, risk management, and
drilling equipment maintenance with respect to deepwater drilling in the
Gulf of Mexico. BP is also required to retain an ethics monitor to
improve its code of conduct to ensure BP’s future candor with the U.S.
government.
The charges and allegations pending against individuals in related
cases are merely accusations, and those individuals are considered
innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The guilty plea and sentence announced today are part of the ongoing criminal investigation by the Deepwater Horizon Task Force into matters related to the April 2010 Gulf oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon Task Force,
based in New Orleans, is supervised by Assistant Attorney General
Breuer and led by Deputy Assistant Attorney General John D. Buretta, who
serves as the director of the task force. The task force includes
prosecutors from the Criminal Division and Environment and Natural
Resources Division of the Department of Justice; the U.S. Attorney’s
Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, as well as other U.S.
Attorneys’ Offices; and investigating agents from the FBI; Environmental
Protection Agency, Criminal Investigative Division; Environmental
Protection Agency, Office of Inspector General; Department of Interior,
Office of Inspector General; National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Office of Law Enforcement; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service; and the Louisiana Department of Environmental
Quality.
This case was prosecuted by Deepwater Horizon Task Force Director
John D. Buretta, Deputy Directors Derek A. Cohen and Avi Gesser, and
task force prosecutors Richard R. Pickens, II, Scott M. Cullen, Colin
Black, and Rohan Virginkar.