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US environment chief mum on BP s negligence

Posted on: Mon August 09, 2010

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama s top energy advisor insisted Sunday that BP will pay a large financial penalty for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster but refused to say whether the United States would pursue criminal negligence charges against the firm.

With the ruptured Macondo well all but dead on the ocean floor as engineers complete their cement seals that shut the well for good, BP is shifting towards recovery operations including cleaning hundreds of miles of shoreline and restoring the economic health of the region.

Carol Browner, director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, stressed that the British energy giant was on the hook for billions of dollars in penalties for the largest unintentional oil spill in petroleum industry history.

 BP will be held absolutely accountable, Browner told NBC s Meet the Press program. There will be a large financial penalty.

An estimated 4.9 million barrels, more than 205 million gallons, spewed from the ruptured well in the 87 days from the beginning of the disaster until the leak was finally capped on July 15, the US government has said, citing the latest official estimates by teams of federal and independent scientists. About 800,000 barrels of that were contained and funnelled into ships on the surface.

The numbers could play a crucial role in determining how much BP is fined under the Clean Water Act, which allows the US government to seek civil penalties for illegal oil discharges.

Fines under the law range from 1,100 dollars per barrel spilled to as high as 4,300 dollars per barrel spilled, if negligence is proven, meaning BP could theoretically face fines of up to 17.6 billion dollars for the 4.1 million barrels that poured into the sea.

Browner was evasive, however, about whether the Obama administration would pursue negligence charges against BP.

 I m not going to comment on the Department of Justice investigation into BP s actions leading up to and during the spill, Browner said.

When pressed if the company should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law, she replied: absolutely.

The White House has already demanded that BP set up a 20-billion-dollar compensation fund for Gulf Coast residents and businesses. Browner said the fund will be launched in the coming days.

Courtesy : The News