Time for serious hardball -BP is a repeat offender and scofflaw when it comes to fines

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://m.industry.bnet.com/energy/10004688/bps-gulf-oil-spill-the-odds-of-fines-jail-time-and-the-death-penalty/
BP's Gulf Oil Spill: The Odds of Fines, Jail Time and the "Death Penalty"
By Kirsten Korosec | Jun 3, 2010

Here’s where BP’s past problems could really come back to haunt it. Under the Clean Air Act, fines for criminal violations double if it’s for a violation committed after the first conviction.

BP doesn’t have one conviction. It has at least three prior federal convictions — two of them felonies, in the past decade. BP Products North America is still on probation for the Texas City refinery fire. BP Exploration Alaska Inc., which plead guilty in 2007 to a misdemeanor violation of the the Federal Water Pollution Control Act for its Prudhoe Bay pipeline spill in 2006, was also put on three years of probation.

BP’s probation could be revoked altogether. However, the feds would have to successfully argue that although probation was issued to BP Products and BP Exploration, it applies to the parent company.

http://alaskadispatch.com/dispatches/energy/5369-bp-still-fighting-fines-stemming-from-06-oil-spills-at-prudhoe-bay
BP still fighting fines stemming from '06 oil spills at Prudhoe Bay
Jill Burke | May 17, 2010

According to the Justice Department, BP, after already receiving permission for several delays, failed to implement weekly cleanings and internal inspections of various pipeline segments prone to corrosion by 15 to 149 days beyond the order's deadline. In total, the complaint lists 635 days when BP was out of compliance with the order. For dragging its feet in complying with repair orders BP could be slapped with up to $100,000 per violation per day in penalties, per an April 2007 compliance order sent to BP from the U.S. Pipeline Safety Office.

http://alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N15109121.htm

Q+A-How would penalties apply to the Gulf oil spill? 15 Jun 2010 21:52:47 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds new figures based on updated flow rate)

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Tuesday drastically raised the estimates of oil coming out of the broken well on the sea floor of the Gulf of Mexico, to as much as 60,000 barrels per day (2.5 million gallons/9.5 million liters). Companies linked to the spill, including BP Plc <BP.L><BP.N>, face increasing liability and potential penalties. Following are some questions and answers for how it could play out.

So, the government literally has BP over the proverbial barrel. They can play some real hardball and get money that is considered "serious" even in oil circles.

My question is: How good a negotiator will President Obama be on behalf of the American people? He was rolled by Pharma into a piddly contribution while giving up what would have been far more in savings through drug negotiation.

Will he be rolled by BP as well?

[mix]

1. It is not just BP.

Will the Obama administration have the fortitude to take on the whole corrupt oil industry?

I'm not convinced.

[havocmom]

2. BP is the evolutionary product of the corporate interests that are the root of our problems in Iran

I doubt they are EVER gonna cry over what they consider to be a little spilt milk oil.

[babylonsister]

3. bp is balking: No Deal: BP, WH Haven't Agreed On Escrow Account

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/06/no-deal-bp-wh-havent-agreed-on-escrow-account.php?ref=fpa

No Deal: BP, WH Haven't Agreed On Escrow Account
Rachel Slajda | June 16, 2010, 8:56AM

Bloomberg reports this morning that BP and the White House have yet to come to an agreement on an escrow account that would help pay for spill cleanup, even as President Obama meets with BP executives this morning in the White House.

In his Oval Office address last night, Obama said he would "inform" BP executives that they must create the account.

"Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company's recklessness," he said. "And this fund will not be controlled by BP. ... the account must and will be administered by an independent third party."

The oil company and the Obama administration are still negotiating key terms of the account. They have not agreed on how big it will be, who will administer it, or whether shareholders must approve the transfer of money, according to Bloomberg.

Lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have called for a $20 billion escrow account.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

4. This is what I am talking about here

BP is a repeat serial offender. I think their leaders could be jailed for criminal negligence, manslaughter, etc for what happened on the Deepwater Horizon. (If Sam Waterston were in charge, they would be!)

How do they have room to "balk" at anything?