DOJ Accuses BP of Gross Negligence Over Deepwater Horizon
The United States Department of Justice accused BP plc (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP) of gross negligence or willful misconduct during the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, according to the report from Financial Times.
The DOJ also said the oil company practiced a culture of corporate recklessness.
BP issued a statement denying the DOJ’s accusations. The company said it will present evidences during the court hearing in January to prove that it did not commit any gross negligence.
The DOJ submitted its argument to the Eastern District Court of Louisiana, negating BP plc (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP)’s earlier filing, and pointed out the oil company’s assertion that it did not commit gross negligence. The gulf region is undergoing a robust recovery, and other issues related to the liability and natural damage were “plainly misleading.”
In its filing, the DOJ provided evidence, such as e-mails and documents that clearly demonstrated how the BP engineers, executives and contractors dealt with the Deepwater Horizon explosion. In their argument, the lawyers for the government pointed out, “The behaviour, words and actions of these BP plc (NYSE:BP) (LON:BP) executives would not be tolerated in a middling size company manufacturing dry goods for sale in a suburban mall. Yet they were condoned in a corporation engaged in an activity [deepwater drilling] that no less a witness than Tony Hayward [former BP chief executive] himself described as comparable to exploring outer space.”
The justice department also accused Transocean, the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon rig, of gross negligence. In its filing, the lawyers for the government argued, “BP did not act alone, by any means, and its gross negligence and willful misconduct are inextricably joined with the acts and omissions of Transocean.”
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