The oil giant BP has been ordered to pay a $373 million fine to settle three separate charges. Fifteen people were killed and hundreds were injured in a massive explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery in 2005.
Acting Attorney General Peter Keisler: “Under the agreement, the company will plead guilty to a one count information charging it with felony violation of the Clean Air Act. BP will pay a fine of $50 million and will serve a three-year period of probation. This is the largest fine ever assessed to a single entity under the Clean Air Act, and this is the first criminal prosecution under the section of the act specifically created to prevent accidental releases that result in death or injury.”
BP will also pay $20 million for a pipeline spill at an Alaska oilfield last year and a record $303 million to settle market price-fixing charges from 2004.