BP to Plead Guilty to Felonies in Deepwater Horizon Spill
BP PLC has agreed to plead guilty to felony charges and pay $4.5 billion in penalties, including $1.26 billion in criminal fines, stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 workers in 2010 and unleashed the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The energy company will plead guilty to 11 felony counts of “misconduct or neglect of ships officers” relating to the deaths aboard the drilling rig, and to one felony count of obstruction of Congress stemming from information it gave about the rate that oil was leaking from the well. This resolution is subject to U.S. federal court approval. The company also will plead guilty to a criminal misdemeanor count under the Clean Water Act and another criminal misdemeanor under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. BP said it will pay $2.394 billion to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation over five years and $350 million to the National Academy of Sciences over five years.