EPA Weighs Sanctions Against BP-hit them in the wallet

[babylonsister]

Long overdue; I like this.


EPA Weighs Sanctions Against BP

Posted on May 25, 2010

U.S. Coast Guard / CPO John Kepsimelis

Clouds of smoke billow up from controlled burns meant to reduce the amount of leaked oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

This article is reprinted from ProPublica under Creative Commons license.


Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency are considering whether to bar BP from receiving government contracts, a move that would ultimately cost the company billions in revenue and could end its drilling in federally controlled oil fields.

Over the past 10 years, BP has paid tens of millions of dollars in fines and been implicated in four separate instances of criminal misconduct that could have prompted this far more serious action. Until now, the company’s executives and their lawyers have fended off such a penalty by promising that BP would change its ways.

That strategy may no longer work.

Days ago, in an unannounced move, the EPA suspended negotiations with the petroleum giant over whether it would be barred from federal contracts because of the environmental crimes it committed before the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Officials said they are putting the talks on hold until they learn more about the British company’s responsibility for the plume of oil that is spreading across the Gulf.

The EPA said in a statement that, according to its regulations, it can consider banning BP from future contracts after weighing “the frequency and pattern of the incidents, corporate attitude both before and after the incidents, changes in policies, procedures, and practices.”

more...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/epa_weighs_sanctions_against_bp_20100525/

[ima_sinnic]

1. CREDO Action Petition to EPA: strip BP of all federal contracts

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8416895

[BR_Parkway]

2. "four separate instances of criminal misconduct" - no 3 strikes laws in place

for these "persons"?

Where's all those tough on crime Republicans now?