BP is a blatant repeat offender — a serial criminal. In 2005, BP’s criminal conduct resulted in an explosion at its Texas City Oil Refinery that killed 15 people; this was followed by the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska pipeline oil spill in 2006. In both cases multi-million dollar criminal fines were imposed. BP also paid hundreds of millions of dollars in civil and administrative fines for Occupational Health and Safety Administration and environmental violations. And now, BP is responsible for yet even more deaths and an environmental disaster of devastating proportions.
The multi-million dollar criminal fines paid by BP did nothing to deter its risky ongoing conduct. The fines were simply a cost of doing business for BP. The only way to change this dynamic is to not only charge the corporation but also those individuals responsible for the corporate crime.
If only a portion of the facts that led up to the explosion that have been reported in the media are true, there will be ample evidence to support a criminal prosecution. But the prosecution should not be limited to corporate entities. Reports of employees being pressured not to report problems and failures to follow the company’s own internal safety and compliance policies, indicate — at best — a cavalier disregard for the risks inherent in the oil and gas business.