Deepwater process
The Deepwater Trial is the civil case against the British BP oil company and other companies because of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in 2010 and the devastating oil spill that followed. The trial began on February 25, 2013.
Timetable
Happenings
Construction of the Deepwater Horizon exploration drilling platform began in late 1998 at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan , South Korea . At the beginning of 2001, the platform was put into service by the company Transocean in the Gulf of Mexico. It was operated on behalf of the lessee BP and was supposed to carry out oil drilling in about 1,500 meters deep water.
On April 20, 2010, due to various serious failures, a blowout occurred , which caused the platform to catch fire and sink two days later. Eleven workers were killed. It was not until July 16, 2010 that the oil flow from the leak could be stopped with a temporary closure. On September 19, 2010, the source was officially declared "dead" by Thad Allen , the US government's special envoy.
Lawsuits and penalties against BP following the disaster
In 2010, attorneys for victims of the disaster in the United States filed at least three lawsuits against BP under the RICO Act . This federal law was originally directed against the Mafia . If BP were to be convicted afterwards, the amount of damages could increase to three times the actual damage incurred - in addition to possibly other pronounced penalties. In 2010, the United States Department of Justice examined whether the RICO Act could apply to this case.
In March 2012, BP and private plaintiffs in the United States agreed to pay damages of 5.9 billion euros ($ 7.8 billion).
BP accepted the US Department of Justice's fine of $ 4.5 billion in November 2012. This is the highest penalty ever imposed for an environmental offense . In addition, BP has set up $ 38.1 billion in reserves for the follow-up costs of the oil spill (as of November 2012), with $ 14 billion already paid out.
On February 25, 2013, the civil case against BP opened in New Orleans .
Lawsuits against other companies
On July 15, 2010, attorneys filed a lawsuit in the New Orleans , Louisiana Supreme Court against 17 companies fighting the fire at sea following the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Plaintiffs believe that standard industry procedures warning against the use of water cannons to combat specific oil fires at sea have been disregarded. Between 38 and 190 m³ per minute of extinguishing water from each of the eight fire-fighting boats led to the drilling platform being flooded, causing it to sink and then triggering the oil spill, according to the complaint. With adequate fire fighting, the Deepwater Horizon would have remained stable at its location, which would have maintained the connection from the platform to the source. This would have significantly increased the ability to control the oil leak. Commercial fisheries, local residents whose land is affected and workers in the oil industry who have lost their jobs due to the oil spill are represented.
On January 3, 2013, the US Department of Justice announced that the Swiss platform operator Transocean, because of its complicity in the disaster, would use 1.4 billion US dollars (approx. 1.06 billion euros) to settle civil and potential criminal claims will pay. The company has signed a guilty pledge that has yet to be confirmed by a court in New Orleans. The sum is made up of one billion US dollars for water pollution and 400 million US dollars as a penalty for criminal acts. Transocean will pay the amount over a period of five years, with $ 560 million to be paid in 2013.
Halliburton (the company involved in drilling the platform) has admitted to destroying evidence following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster , according to a press release from the US Department of Justice on July 25, 2013.
Halliburton has promised to plead guilty to a planned trial. The company will accept a fine of $ 200,000 and a three-year probationary period and continue to work with investigators. Halliburton also voluntarily paid $ 55 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Oil victims are suing BP under anti-mafia law. In: Spiegel Online. July 19, 2010.
- ↑ Damir Fras: BP pays oil spill victims billions. In: fr-online.de. March 4, 2012.
- ↑ Laurel Brubaker Calkins, Margaret Cronin Fisk: Oil Spill Caused by Firefighters. In: Boomberg News. July 16, 2010.
- ↑ Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: Swiss company Transocean has to pay a fine of billions at focus.de, January 4, 2013 (accessed on January 4, 2013).
- ↑ spiegel.de July 26, 2013: Halliburton destroyed evidence of the "Deepwater" disaster
- ↑ www.justice.gov: Halliburton Agrees to Plead Guilty to Destruction of Evidence in Connection with Deepwater Horizon Tragedy