BP's Rap Sheet: British Petroleum Is a Multiply-convicted Felon

June 2, 2010 (LPAC)—British Petroleum is a serial criminal violator, which has pled guilty and/or paid criminal fines in at least four cases in U.S. courts, and is still on probation for two of them. Barack Obama's continued protection of this criminal—and British sponsored—entity has been the latest count of impeachment to show that Obama must be impeached. And if he is not removed from office soon, the United States will not survive.

(1) In Oct. 2007, BP pled guilty to a felony involving safety violations in connection with the March 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery, in which 15 were killed and hundreds more injured. The plea included a $50 million fine and three years' probation — still in effect. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration assessed BP the largest fine in OSHA history — $87 million — after inspectors found 270 work safety violations that had been previously cited but not fixed, and 439 new violations, at the Texas City refinery. According to BP's own statement, one of the conditions of probation was compliance with the OSHA settlement agreement. BP acknowledged that it had paid $1.6 billion in compensation to victims of the explosion.

(2) BP pled guilty to a criminal misdemeanor in connection with the March 2006 oil pipeline spill from its Prudhoe Bay, Alaska pipelines. Prosecutors attributed the spill to BP cost-cutting. This case also included three years' probation — still in effect.

(3) BP entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ for price manipulation in propane trading, and also entered into a consent order with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This included a criminal penalty of $100 million, and other civil fines. The deferred prosecution agreement has a term of three years — so it is also still pending — and it requires BP compliance with all its terms.

(4) Earlier, in February 2000, BP pled guilty to a felony violation of the Clean Water Act for illegally dumping toxic and hazardous materials down oil well shafts on the Alaskan North Slope. BP was fined $500,000 and was placed on five years' probation. It was still on probation when the Prudhoe Bay pipeline spill took place, caused by corroded pipelines.

In 2009, another criminal investigation of BP was opened in connection with another North Slope pipeline spill; the status of this investigation has not been made public