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BP?s Blast from the Past ? And the Hits Keep Coming

By Joe Consumer

Americans grew pretty angry with BP this year, which is perhaps the most obvious statement ever.  But for Texans, anger at BP stretches way back ? and forward, and at this point, there seems to be no end in sight.

Yesterday, BP agreed to pay a record $50.6 million fine after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that its BP?s Texas City oil refinery ? the nation?s third largest - failed to make required safety improvements following a horrific 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers and injured nearly 200.  OSHA is also requiring the company to ?invest another $500 million to improve conditions at the plant, agree to oversight by third-party auditors, have frequent meetings with OSHA officials and establish a liaison between its North American and London boards of directors and OSHA.?  The $50.6 million fine breaks the prior $21 million record, also BP's after the 2005 explosion itself.

Actually OSHA hit the company with an $87 million fine. BP is still fighting the other $30 million for 439 other safety violations.

Also recall that BP had already pled guilty to a felony violation of the Clean Air Act in connection with the explosion and has been on probation ever since, during which they were supposed to fix safety violations at the plant. Understandably, some are now asking federal prosecutors to revoke this probation, opening up BP to more criminal prosecutions.   But that?s not all! 

Earlier this year, BP released 500,000 pounds of toxic and carcinogenic emissions from this plant over 46-days ?after a fire broke out in the seal of a hydrogen compressor? causing BP to ?rerout[] gases to a flare.  The Texas attorney general is now suing BP ?alleging poor maintenance and operating practices ?and also accuses the company of putting profits over environmental compliance in continuing to run the ultracracker, rather than shutting it down and preventing the release.?

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said ?BP's violations are ?egregious,? the company has a poor compliance history and the courts have the power to hand down greater monetary fines,'? which is why the AG?s office is now involved.  It also seems like the Texas AG ?is looking into more than 60 other air quality violations at the Texas City facility, dating back to March 2005. The company could be fined up to $25,000 per day, per violation.?

Moreover, the release of chemicals earlier this year was not disclosed to the public at the time, which ?has ignited a furor? in the community with thousands of people fearing ?they may have been exposed to the known carcinogens? and chemicals like benzene.   Workers and residents have now filed a class action lawsuit against BP over this incident. 

And as bad as things are now, it could become even worse for Texans going forward, given a 2009 Texas Supreme Court decision that gave plant owners, like BP, ?immunity from liability for harm caused to third party contractors on their premises. ?If this decision was the law in 2005 British Petroleum and others would have been granted immunity for the fifteen deaths and countless injuries caused when their Texas City plant exploded due to the company's universally condemned safety violations, some of which ultimately led to felony convictions,?? testified Texas attorney John Eddie Williams, Jr. last month.

For crying out loud, will lawmakers please do something?

Full post as published by ThePopTort on August 13, 2010 (boomark / email).