Obama Suspends New BP Contracts
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The action by the Environmental Protection Administration won't affect current contracts, but prevents BP and its affiliates from new government contracts and grants "until the company can provide sufficient evidence to EPA demonstrating that it meets federal business standards," the agency said.
In London, BP said it had no immediate comment but expected to make a statement later Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear what new or pending contracts the suspension might affect. In the past, BP has been a major supplier of energy to the U.S. military, and has also provided fuel products and drilling services for other U.S. agencies such as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The suspension will not affect any existing agreements between BP and the federal government.
2 BP supervisors, ex-executive in court on spill charges
The news comes as two BP rig supervisors and a former BP executive were scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on criminal charges stemming from the explosion and the company's response to the oil spill.
BP well site leaders Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine were indicted this month on manslaughter charges in the death of the 11 rig workers. The federal indictment accuses them of disregarding abnormal high-pressure readings that should have been glaring indications of trouble just before the blowout of BP's Macondo well.
Former BP executive David Rainey was charged separately with concealing information from Congress about the amount of oil that was leaking from the well.
Their defence attorneys have vowed to fight the charges.
BP to plead guilty, pay $4.5B
On Tuesday, a BP lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for the company as it was arraigned on related criminal charges. The plea in Federal Court was a procedural move paving the way for the company to plead guilty at a later date.
More here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/11/28/wrd-bp-oil-spill-charges-court.html
2 comments:
I love it! This is a good sign.
Yes-but...4.5 Billion is mere 'chicken feed'. the damage created by this spill,[still leaking?],not only has no dollar value, it's beyond control calculating the present/future devastation of the gulf region, but this effects the ecology of the Atlantic region also,as in shutting down the natural flow of Gulf Stream waters up the northeast coast...4.5 billion is a sad amount when the priceless destruction was done.
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