Appeals court gives go-ahead to BP investor suit over 2006 Alaska oil spills

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http://www.adn.com/2014/02/13/3324983/appeals-court-gives-go-ahead-to.html



Oil spill clean-up workers vacuum water and some oil from the tundra on an area beneath an oil transit line in the eastern operating area of Prudhoe Bay on Friday afternoon, August 11, 2006. The spill, discovered there last Sunday, resulted in a major reduction in BP's Prudhoe oil operations.

Appeals court gives go-ahead to BP investor suit over 2006 Alaska oil spills
By LISA DEMER
February 13, 2014 Updated 7 hours ago

An appeals court ruling Thursday rekindles a shareholder lawsuit that alleges BP executives intentionally made false or misleading statements about the condition of North Slope pipelines before two spills in 2006.

The investors sued BP and top executives in 2008, asserting that public statements after the first spill were intentionally misleading as were statements in BP annual reports asserting the company was in compliance with environmental laws and that touted its "environmental best practices."

In March 2006, a leak from corroded pipe spilled more than 200,000 gallons of oil onto the tundra -- the biggest spill ever on Alaska's North Slope. That August, there was a smaller leak from a second line. Oil production at Prudhoe Bay was shut down during repairs. Investors say the shutdown caused a 4 percent drop in BP's stock price.

BP pleaded guilty in 2007 to negligently discharging oil after admitting it knew of corrosion in its pipelines and that it had failed to monitor the aging pipe system for corrosion. It paid a $20 million fine to settle the criminal charges.