| Site Navigation |
|
|
| Search Archives |
|
|
| |
| Health Safety Environment |
Update:
Criminal investigation launched into US Gulf oil spill
 |
| Eric Holder. |
(6/2/2010 - OGI: Houston) The US government has launched investigations into possible violations of criminal and civil laws in regard to the sinking of Transocean's semisubmersible drilling rig Deepwater Horizon and the massive oil spill in the US Gulf of Mexico, with BP, Transocean, and Halliburton at the center of the investigations, as evidenced by their being instructed by the Justice Department to preserve their records related to the entire incident.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said today, "We have begun both a criminal as well as a civil investigation as is our obligation under the law." He added, "If we find evidence of illegal behavior, we will be forceful in our response," and noted that applicable environmental laws are very specific and that he saw "miles and miles of oil that we know has already affected plant and animal life along the coast".
Holder said investigators will be looking for violations of the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, among others. The latter, he said would be used to assign liability for the cleanup costs and for reimbursement of the government's expenditures in relation to the spill. He said, as well, that prosecutors may pursue a range of charges, including traditional criminal charges. "We will not rest until justice is done," he said, and that includes responsibility for the killing of 11 workers and injury of 17 others aboard the Deepwater Horizon.
"This disaster is nothing less than a tragedy," Holder said. "There is one thing I will not let be forgotten in this incident: in addition to the extensive costs being borne by our environment and by communities along the Gulf Coast, the initial explosion and fire also took the lives of 11 rig workers. Eleven innocent lives lost. As we examine the causes of the explosion and subsequent spill, I want to assure the American people that we will not forget the price those workers paid. As we move forward, we will be guided by simple principles: We will ensure that every cent of taxpayer money will be repaid and damages to the environment and wildlife will be reimbursed. We will make certain that those responsible clean up the mess they have made and restore or replace the natural resources lost or injured in this tragedy."
Click below for earlier reports:
BP to enhance LMRP to limit oil escaping into US Gulf
Transocean try to limit Macondo spill liability called "unconscionable"
OGI Homepage I Contact Us
|
| |
