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Subscribe to RSSTwo years after the BP drilling rig exploded and triggered the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, some scientists and residents say they are starting to see signs of environmental damage in fish and other marine life in the Gulf Coast – which is a vital part of the local economy. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., discusses.
The first criminal charges in the 2010 BP gulf spill were filed on Tuesday against a former BP engineer accused of intentionally deleting hundreds of text messages about the size of the spill.
It's clear from the court document unsealed with the case that the Justice Department's criminal investigation of the massive BP blowout includes this aspect: Did BP or its employees intentionally understate the amount of oil flowing from the well?
Kurt Mix, 50, was arrested earlier Tuesday on two charges of obstruction of justice, and then released on $100,000 bail after a federal court appearance in Houston, Texas.
"The department has filed initial charges in its investigation into the Deepwater Horizon disaster against an individual for allegedly deleting records relating to the amount of oil flowing from the Macondo well after the explosion," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
Federal officials said more charges against others are expected.
"The Deepwater Horizon Task Force is continuing its investigation into the explosion and will hold accountable those who violated the law in connection with the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history," Holder said.
In the complaint, Mix is accused of deleting text messages on two occasions "after being repeatedly informed of his obligation to maintain such records." Most of those messages were later retrieved, the Justice Department said.
In one thread, Mix allegedly deleted a string of some 200 messages that had to do with a process dubbed "Top Kill" that was aimed at stopping the spill.
"Too much flowrate -- over 15,000" barrels of oil per day, Mix allegedly said in one text.
"At the time," the Justice Department noted, "BP’s public estimate of the flow rate was 5,000 BOPD -- three times lower than the minimum flow rate indicated in Mix’s text."
The engineer, Kurt Mix, was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice for allegedly deleting information that investigators wanted. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Moreover, BP "continued publicly to state that Top Kill was broadly proceeding according to plan," the complaint says.
"Before Top Kill commenced," the department added, "Mix and other engineers had concluded internally that Top Kill was unlikely to succeed if the flow rate was greater than 15,000 barrels of oil per day."
If convicted, Mix, a resident of Katy, Texas, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the two criminal counts against him, the Justice Department said.
BP stated that while it would not comment on the case against Mix it has "clear policies requiring preservation of evidence in this case and has undertaken substantial and ongoing efforts to preserve evidence."
The company added that it "will continue cooperating in the Department of Justice's investigation."
Ken Feinberg, former BP claims administrator, talks with MSNBC's Alex Wagner and the NOW panel about the progress that's been made in the two years following the BP oil spill.
The court document laying out the charges against Mix says that he began working with a BP team the day after the April 20, 2010, blowout. His initial estimates of the flow ranged from 64,000 barrels of oil a day to as much as 138,000.
It's clear that BP's own internal estimates were all over the place. A little more than a week later, the document says, Mix sent his supervisors a summary of the computer modeling, which showed the flow could be as low as 1,000 barrels a day to as high as 146,000.
Lawsuits have been filed seeking financial compensation from BP, and the oil giant has reached a tentative $7.8 billion settlement with thousands of individuals and businesses.
In addition, the U.S. government is expected to seek billions of dollars in environmental fines. The final amount will depend on how much oil was determined to have spilled.
BP announced a $7.8 billion settlement in covering the economic loss and medical costs to the plaintiffs affected by the oil spill in the Gulf Coast. Dean Blanchard, owner of "Dean Blanchard Seafood," is one of those plaintiffs and shares his story of how the oil disaster changed his life.
But Tuesday's charges were the first against an individual in the blast that killed 11 workers and spilled at least 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico.
Mix resigned from BP a few months ago, the Justice Department stated.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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Hopefully he rolls over on his boss, and so on. I'd love to see how far up the chain this goes.
If he knew how bad it really was, they all knew. To bad these filthy rich BP bastards will never see a day in jail like they deserve.
Well surprise surprise BP has wheedled it way out of charges using its massive purse, non of the other participants are getting sued, so lets go after the engineer, lets fine him, take all his pension, home & family.
The say @!$%# rolls down hill, well aint that the truth in this case
Hello folks, let’s see how far this goes. BP, COREXIT manufacturer and factions of the hands off U.S. government are just as complicit in this disaster.
Is anybody buying into the BP Public Relations propaganda machine that the spill wasn't as bad as first thought and the oil has evaporated or been eaten by microbes therefore 75% of the oil is gone and there is no damage to the Gulf or its inhabitants?
Did you know the well is still leaking and Corexit is still being used? You will still hear the mantra by the ignorant of drill baby drill. Hey folks, we have a symbiotic relationship with Mother Earth and if she dies we die. But alas, the ignorant will continue to support the destruction of our planet saying we have no choice just as they will say we have no choice in attacking other countries and killing, maiming, and displacing millions of people. If you were a galactic civilization wouldn’t you quarantine this type of ignorance from the rest of the universe?
The largest marine oil spill in our history began on April 20th, 2010 and was capped on July 15th. Initial spill estimates by BP were 1,000 barrels a day. Later those estimates were adjusted to 40 to 100,000 thousand barrels a day, nobody will ever really know. So let's do the math and this is the conservative estimate. 86 days of the spill at 50,000 barrels at 42 gallons a barrel equal 180 million 600 thousand gallons that have been spilled in the Gulf. If you double that, it is probably a more accurate reflection. And since the well is still leaking we will never really know how much oil has been leaked into the gulf. Many scientists claim the gulf loop current has been broken as a result of the leak, if so, this will have a dramatic effect on the European weather. If you want evidence of the leak just talk to the residents and oil spill workers living along the gulf from Texas to Florida.
So you wonder where the oil has gone! The figures thus far don't include the Corexit dispersant poured into the Gulf which BP claims is well over a million gallons. If you use the same corrected estimated percentage of the oil spill with the Corexit that was intentionally dispersed into the Gulf, that figure is much higher, once again we will never really know the amount dispersed as it is still being used. Now where did all that oil and dispersant go? It's still in the Gulf and the dispersant is doing its job and cloaking the oil which is making it more difficult to detect. Scientific experts claim that the carcinogenic nature of Corexit causes chronic and acute health problems which kill red blood cells causing liver and kidney damage. Nalco, the manufacturer of Corexit, which is owned in part by Goldman Sachs and Blackstone, will not list all of the chemicals in Corexit as they claim proprietary privilege. The known chemicals in Corexit are Bioconcentrating in the aquatic organisms which will affect the entire food chain in the Gulf including mother earth and us.
This doesn't even take into account the emotional and economic devastation that has been forced upon the Gulf residents. Nobody in their right mind can minimize this catastrophe, except BP, and their paid off Public Relations flunkies, because they are beholding to their board of directors and their greedy stock holders. In what I believe is an act of the most perverse propaganda by BP, people are being encouraged to bathe in and eat the byproduct of BP’s toxic stew. After all BP has been running the show and people are just collateral damage and will be used to help mitigate reparations. Please don't let them con you and the American public.
P.S. If you care about our oceans you might want to investigate The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Time for BP execs to pay the price. They all need a jail sentence. This is the biggest enviormental disaster in history. This is a glaring example what money can do. They should be forced to eat seafood from the gulf everyday. They should be be forced to wear striped jail bird outfits and pick up oil blobs that are still out there. BP is counting on the American people to forget. They are using their money as power. SHAME ON BP !!!! Interesting that the lowly engineer is the first to face criminal charges, bet he would not have destroyed documents if he new he was going done and not his bosses.
Yes, let's hope this goes up much higher on the BP chain where the heads of those in charge will roll.
And let's do hope that whenever we're subjected to the drone of 'drill baby drill', that we all remember this catastrophe and the economic and environmental impact all Americans will have to live with for years to come in the Gulf.
There needs to be a way to incentivise oil companies to ensure they do everything possible to avoid catastrophes like this - fines for failing or doctoring safety audits, fines for each spill, reduction or elimination of subsidies, loss of future permit opportunities, etc.
We'll pay for this catastrophe for a very long time, and so should BP. Boycott BP gas stations!!!!!!
My guess is that he was told by his superiors to delete the messages and they are now throwing him under the bus to protect their on asses. Of course the bosses were smart enough to tell him verbally to delete the messages so that the has no proof of this. The managers always know how to cover themselves and they can lie with the best of them. I doubt very much that this guy decided on his own to delete the messages.
Everyone is quick to blame BP for the spill because they were the majority owner of the well. The reality is that BP was not in charge of operations on the platform. The ones that really screwed up were Transocean who was operating the rig, the company that as responsible for cementing the well that screwed up the cementing process, and the manufacturer of the blowout preventer that failed to operate. If any of these companies had performed their jobs properly the spill never would have happened. It is easy too point at BP, since they are the more public face of the oil industry, but these other companies bear more of the responsibility for what happened than BP. That said, BP is the only one that has stepped up and is making damage payments to those affected by the spill, so who are the real companies that deserve scorn in this?!?
And still people keep taking their SUVs and Hummers to the BP stations in town, even with other gas stations just across the street. Like I've been saying, For ME, not thee.
I know a couple of men who have worked in the oil rig business in the Gulf for over 20 years, and they told me that it was an "Open secret" that BP was cutting corners and that they had been doing so,and "escaping a bullet" for at least 20 years...moreover, that told me that this sort of reckless disregard for safety as well as for the health of the Gulf and surrounding coastal properties is endemic in the Oil Business, where it is all about money.
There is some sort of deviant "roughneck pride" in getting away with shortcuts, also, there are production bonuses to hasten drilling, pumping,repairs etc.,all of the above add to a "Screw it all" mentality....so,one wonders,with that attitude,whether ANY more drilling should be allowed,as it is only a matter of time before the next "catastrophe"............
As an insurance investigator with 40 years experience,I learned, decades ago, that there are very,very few genuine "Accidents" in life, but,that there is lots and lots of negligence....
JS in SD, yours is the first rational commnet posted here. The last thing that BP ever wanted was to lose that much oil; just think of the cost at, what, $80 something a barrel at the time of the blowout? You nailed it when you pointed out the subcontractors since they were really the ones who reason to cut corners. When you look at how much it costs to put in this type of well, it makes no sense at all for th BP to cut any corners, regardless of what other people who work in the oil industry might say. If Bp was negligent it would be to place too much faith in their subcontractors.
This is crazy. To arrest the guy becuase you think he may have known how big the spill was. Maybe he gave his best estimate. Maybe he didn't. It's not CRIMINAL.
You hit the nail on the head as the old saying goes. Where was the BP on site inspector when all the corner cutting was going on. As far as it goes this ding-a-ling has a mind of his own, he was told to keep records and he deleted them, so its his head on the block. Maybe he had an alternative motive for deleting records? Oh well, one thing has been established the guy has no integrity, but then there are alot of problems today that can be traced to one's lack of integrity.
It is fun to blame teh oil companies for oil spills. It sure makes us feel better if we can point our finger at others and put our best "holier than Thou" look on our faces. But the truth is that there are very few of us willing to live without oil. Sure I have a few friends who have moved into the wilds of the pacific NW and have no electricity, no car, only eat organic, etc but even they still use products like clothes made from petroleum. There are inherent risks in drilling, shipping and processing oil. The fact that we demand the products makes us partly responsible for the spill. The fact that we demand those products at ever cheaper prices means companies will take more risks to reduce the costs and meet our demands. You can lock up some BP pigeon for deleting emails but every one of us who uses products derived from oil in our daily lives, which is all of us, are culpable for the spill.
Spellchecker - He's being arrested because he deleted the emails after being told on at least two occasions not to delete anything. For all of you blaming the execs, don't forget that it is staff engineers that make proposals on how to construct and maintain the rigs.
I am sure Transocean is running scared. They were the operators of the rig. i don't know if the rig was owned by Trans but it may have been, they have many rigs in the gulf and SA.
"The Deepwater Horizon Task Force is continuing its investigation into the explosion and will hold accountable those who violated the law in connection with the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history," Holder said"
Not to change the subject; but why isn't someone investigating Holder? How about for the Fast and Furious scandal. Talk about the corrupt investigating the corrupt. It's almost laughable...no wait....it IS laughable.
Poor dear "myspellcheckisbroken" ... I'll say this as slowly as possible so it might sink into that thick skull of yours. This engineer was not charged and arrested for his estimates. He was charged and arrested for felony obstruction of justice because he tried to destroy evidence. Can you say "D-e-s-t-r-o-y E-v-i-d-e-n-c-e ?
A really big issue with this blowout is the location of the wellsite. It is so far offshore and in such deep water. Both things contribute to any problems that arise from normal drilling activities and this was neither. If the damn fed govt hadn't placed so much land off limits, we could get to a lot of oil so much easier. There is no damn reason for the govt to own so much of our land. And if there is a problem, it's so much easier to deal with it. The chances of something like this happening on land and in the shallow waters are real slim and it wouldn't have gone on as long as this. If you don't like oil and drilling, then cut yourself off from the world and convince a whole lot more people to join you. There ain't nothing out there to replace it at this time. It will be a long long time in the future before you are going to get a 747 off the ground with pond scum, batteries, solar panels, wind or pixie dust.
TrustVerify,
You have your information a little wrong. We do NOT have a symbiotic relationship with Earth. We have a parasitic relationship with Earth.
If you want to save the planet, kill off the parasite....common sense, right? Unfortunately, you too are part of the problem and contribute to it every day just by living.
The reall problem with our ecosystem is not a few cars on the road, or a few oilspills....it's a debilitating case of overpopulation....let some genocide and wars happen, stop healthcare and let disease run it's natural course, and even with all the drilling we can do....Earth will repair itself.
The sad fact is, the human species is to earth what cancer is to the human body. Best you can do is remove the cancer....when you find another solution, make sure to let the world now...because all the green energy in the world is only going to destroy quality of life, not improve the quality of the ecosystem.
Earth girl you do know that BP satations dont sell just BP gas and that BP does not exclusively sell to BP stations right. Boy cotting a BP station just hurts a small business owner in your community and does not really do anything to the corportion.
Im sure this thing is gonna crush those at the top i.e. taxpayers. Interesting, taxpayers are also at the bottom and middle too.
There ain't nothing out there to replace it at this time. It will be a long long time in the future before you are going to get a 747 off the ground with pond scum, batteries, solar panels, wind or pixie dust
The US military has fighter jets that run on Algea based fuels so take the pond scum out of the equation.
If the US comsumer would get off the tiny death mobiles like FIT , SMART , YARUS etc etc and embrance Diesel and algea bio-fuels the world would be a better place.
2011 Passat gets mid 30s and low 40s mpg and is a full size car. SUV crossovers could get over 25 mpg city with a diesel. A diesel Pruis gets nearly 70mpg
Windpower is for the birds Aglea in the tank and nukes for your home.
i laugh at your post because everyone is to blame for this disaster when you drive 100 miles round trip for work and don't use public transportation. it's everybody fault so get over it and your retirement relies on that stock price stays high.
How about we go back to the politicians who forced BP to drill in deep water because new shallow water drilling permits have been banned for some time? Had that "accident" happened in shallow water drilling (200ft deep or less), it could have been capped in a matter of hours. But then again, it's wouldn't have happened in shallow water at all because shallow water drilling doesn't have the dangers of natural gas interference and threats of explosions that deep water drilling does. If we are going to pin the blame, let's bring in EVERYONE involved.
Hey Opp: as soon as "public transportation" can get me to and from work directly on time and safely, take me to lunch and run errands on my lunch hour ON TIME and SAFELY, and take me to ALL of my friend's homes at the drop of a hat or back to the grocery store when I forgot an item while cooking, I'll gladly use public transportation! Until then, you liberals need to keep your Utopian fantasyland of mass transit and everyone living in mass communities like some Eastern Bloc nation where it belongs: in a fantasy. It's not reality for the rest of us, bud.
And what's up with bringing up stock valuations and retirement? Your hero Obama wants to raise our dividend tax rate to our income tax rate which effectively wipes out the incentive to INVEST in the first place! We may as well stick our money under a mattress like the old days!
Sure, prosecute this engineer, that will teach BP! Who was probably told to delete everything. What a joke! They need to prosecute the CEO and executives for not having any kind of effective plan to deal with disasters like this BEFORE they started drilling.
You do realize that these are the same kind of people who want to build nuclear power plants, don't you? Who do think will go to jail should something go wrong? Someone lower in the food chain, like an engineer or a supervisor.
rojasp,
If you will read the article, in addition to what you have stated, they are also going after him because they believe he, along with others, understated the size of the spill. This can be found in the second paragraph. Also, it is debateable whether or not deleting text messages is criminal. There are many issues to go into regarding the text messages. He is also being made to take the fall. Finally, I do not understand you folks like to make personal attacks on here. None of that is necessary, and whether people agree with me or not, I tend to find most people on here enjoyable.
Very bad boy!! How could he do such a LOW DOWN thing???
If he did it a LONG jail term is in order!
Let's hope he's offered a deal and spills the beans.
If he has memos backing up the order to delete it will be his "get of jail free card"
While the Macondo oil spill was tragic, another decades-old oil spill in New York City that is twice the size of the Exxon Valdez spill has still not been remediated as shown here:
A $58 billion class action suit has been launched against BP, ExxonMobil and Chevron/Texaco by residents of the affected area.
so was he supposed to keep every text message he has ever sent?
lol nice try. No not every message...but obviously the ones that had anything to do with the gulf disaster. There is a law that says a person cannot destroy evidence of an investigation. It's not really that complicated of an idea, if you think about it.
@ Hey - That law only works if he deleted them after it became an investigation. I don't think "you should have known it was going to become an investigation." is good enough. It's a bit difficut if they were deleted as part of a normal e-mail purge before the investigation started.
Some companies do e-mail purges on a regular basis. There would have to be a notice sent to prevent them from happening. I'm not saying this is what happened here. In fact I would guess it wasn't and he destroyed evidence. But it's possible that he deleted e-mails as part of a regular program to keep the e-mail server from overflowing.
For some entities, like government agencies, it is illegal to delete any e-mails. As far as I know that doesn't apply to the private sector except when they have been specifically ordered not to delete anything by a court or appropriate enforcement agency.
Well, if you are a good and honest person, there is no reason to erase your old texts.........and good reasons to hold onto them, to show your intent, your forthrightedness and your honest intent.
If you are a thieving, dishonest criminal, there are lots and lots of reasons to erase your old texts. Shall I assume that you fall into the latter category ? ( since you have to ask )
why? is it hard to NOT delete evidence?
To Gneisenau and tron777888777888: remind me not to hire you, as my lawyer in the future. And for your further edification.....
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/April/12-ag-524.html
Nothing will happen to this guy. He has money and he will pay his way out of it. This is America where money talks. it always has been that money talks in this country. There needs to be changes and a lot of them, but that will never happen.
He's a frigging drilling engineer, maybe earning 150K a year, thats not money when BP has paid $20 billion
An engineer??????????? The CEO should be dragged out of his office in shackles and Tased all the way to jail.
Why, Banker; did the CEO destroy the text messages?
The CEO should be held responsible for the whole disaster. The CEO get's obscene bonuses for anything good the company does, like making big profits, he should also be held responsible for anything bad that happens too. If they started holding CEO's responsible for accidents like this, I guarantee you that procedures would change to prevent anything like this from happening. That's one thing China does right, they hold the top execs of a company responsible for preventable accidents like this.
The workers on the rig knew something was wrong but were told by management to shut up and keep pouring the cement. A team of six non-BP engineers landed on the rig that day, knew something was terribly wrong, and high tailed it out of there.
BP management was only worried about the money they were losing every day without the well being capped. The CEO and other upper management should be held responsible for the accident including the deaths of the eleven men.
Communist China? Really you are saying they are better than the US. You know the only true difference between communism and slavery is a name right?
If the Repuicks get back in there they will say DRILL baby DRILL they will remove all regulations on drilling and GO for it drill the crap right out of the ground and watch it FILL THE SEAS and polute all aspects of life.
Those affected by it should be suing the republicans for all their DRILL BABY DRILL but these same bastards who got hurt will VOTE the Repuicks in to office to deregulate drillin they best be ready to blame it on the REPUICKS the REPUICKS the REPUICKS the REPUICKS ( aka REPUBICS)
They're also all for gutting most regulations. Letting each industry/company decide which rules they don't like...getting rid of rules that companies don't like because they are too 'costly'.
Is that like saying Dumbacraps? In case you forget, we need oil to survive. Unless you live in a cave, your entire existence is based around the use of oil. If you refuse to use any part of it, you can be the first to going back and living in the stone age. Even your computer you are typing on is made with petroleum byproducts. What a freaking tool.
I really think if the republicans. were in charge and had their way oil drilling would be closer to shore and not in so deep a water thus easier access to wells and more able to cap, stop, any problem that might occur, but no the EPA along with demacrats backing their every whim are just as much to blame as anyone.
the repubs do not want to do away with all regulations...saying that is an outright lie. Drilling can be safe and usually is in the gulf...we need to the domestic oil.
Joe, If you think we need oil to survive, think again. Yes, it comes in handy for certain things. Like manufacturing things that wind or solar power can't produce. Like your computer! Next time you're cold & don't know how to tap into todays wonderful energy alternatives, burn your computer, that'll heat your home, until it burns to the ground... If you want sun, go outside. If you want a lot of wind, go to a GOP convention. They produce a lot of wind saying how we can't live without oil. They are the ones making a bundle. Ask FOX, BP, Halliburton. THEY can't live without oil. Were you named after the movie from the seventies, "Joe" with Peter Boyle? You know, the one where he plays a dumb redneck who is more trouble than he's worth.. You DO remember the seventies, don't you? Or are the flashbacks affecting you like they are Ted Nugent?
@ Omay - I'm sorry but that's complete bunk. We may, in the future, be able to live without oil, but not today. Solar and wind can not produce 100% of our electrical needs. It can't produce all the various plastics we need. We need oil for food production and transportation. We need fossil fuels for power production. We need fossil fuels to get to work. We need it to build lighter and stronger materials.
Let's all stop using fossil fuels tomorrow morning at 12:01 am. Let's remove all products from our homes and the market that are made by fossil fuels tomorrow at 12:02 am. How many people do you think would live with that? Come on, omay put your money where your mouth is. Stop using oil and anything made from oil tomorrow. Of course you won't be able to tell us about it, you won't be able to use your phone or computer.
Let's face it...Eric Holder needs to charge himself with Obstruction of Justice. He has mislead Congress and the American people on Fast and Furious long enough.
Deep water drilling is a dangerous business...Obama is to blame he should allow on shore and shallow water drilling if he wants to protect the environment.
Fast and Furious has nothing to do with this and how can you say this is Obama's fault?
Why is Obama the one to blame for deep water drilling accidents? Not the Oil companies? not those drilling? not the regulating agencies? No, of course it has to be Obama
You are naive to think that deep water drilling would stop if on shore and shallow drilling increased. Oil companies are in it for a profit. If they're making a profit off the deep wells, they won't close them, especially after investing so heavily in getting them started
So it's all Obama's fault...brilliant. I'm sure when there's a syphillis outbreak or alien invasion he'll be blamed for that too. This is, of course, Obama's fault because he's the first president to allow deep water drilling, right? It astounds the rational mind at what people will blame him for.
Why not blame Obama? He's in charge in the US, and everybody keeps blaming Dubya 3 years later for an out of control federal deficit.
Typically, whomever is in charge when something good or bad occurs, they get the credit or take the hit.....so, you're right, DubYA was at the wheel on 9/11, and Dubya got us into TWO wars,one of which,in Iraq was totally unjustified and has cost the US Taxpayer over a $Trillion, plus 6000 dead US soldiers,58,000 wonded US Soldiers and 115,000 dead Iraquis, then Dubya deregulated banks and insurance companies and financial organizations, reduced taxes for the very wealthy ( When you are in a WAr, you need to RAISE taxes to fight that War(s)), and Dubya burnt through the $695 Billion cash surplus left to him by Bubba Clinton ( Clinton was the only president in the past 62 years who balanced the US budget, and did so TWICE),
Then Dubya was at the helm when he crashed our economy and nearly brought down the World economy ( and the rest of the world considers this true).....Not last, but,it was and is the Republican Oilman thing to deregulate the oil business and to give them Oil Depletion allowances....which is like giving a supermarket government cash because customers have been buying groceries and the shelves need re-filling.....
Dubya and family love the Saudi Family and have deep oil interests ( google: George Bush holding hands King Saudi Arabia) themselves and the oil men always come through with big dough for the republicans who spread the wealth amongst themselves......DUBYA is a WAR CRIMINAL, a dumb one, and should be in solitary...his wife,Laura, was a Democrat in her youth because she has a soul, and in her soul today,she still is a Democrat...she must have had an aneurism when she married that doofuss.
To Kevin P Maher.......there was NO deficit before Dubya..REMEMBER??? because of moronic Americans who voted for him TWICE it took 8 years to make the mess..and what a mess it is!!!
Can we report people on here for being Idiots?
Hey GSHHK "Dubya" only had 4.8 trillion in eight years compared to Obama's 5+ Trillion in 38 months. In case that math is to hard for you Obama is spending at twice Bush's rate and if elected again following this rate he would have more defecit spending than every priesident before him combinded since the US went in to debt in 1829. Because i sure you knew the national debt was about 10.6 trillion when he took office.
The republican party will use their influence on the court to see that suit will be thrown out if it goes that far. The coast line will contine to be destoried by the this oil spill for 100 years. If you go into the marsh on shore dig 6" down and you have crude oil, quick sand looks like a sand pile in the jungle but it's whats below that gets you. The republicans could care less about oil slicks in the gulf, oil slicks on the gulf are money in the pockets for the 1%ers.
The Left Wing Liberal Socialists need to bend over and spread-em because the election is coming and you will receive your well earned reward for what you have done to this country under the Obama Doctrine. The Middle Class is not going to take it any longer
Nice try Sammy. It's the RW nutjobs in the GOP that want to drill everywhere and eliminate any regulations or environmental reviews and permitting so that people like the Koch brothers can make more profits at middle-class taxpayer expense.
More misleading misdirection right out of the TP'er handbook from Sammy.
Sure, and Obama doesn't want to pass new laws without the Congress voting for them, as the Constitution says. As you have said, "nice try" JustSlapMe.
You have proof the repubs are trying to get the case thrown out? or you the stereotypical liberal spouting nonsense and lies?
Sammy,
Your obvious lack of class takes away any credibility your opinion might have had.
More deflection and misdirection with off topic mis-information from KP - straight from the TPer handbook.
Is anyone else here thinking Scape Goat?
Yep.
And let's hope some of the higher ups than this poor guy get nailed, too. Mix was apparently doing his best to genuinely estimate the flow. His boss/es undoubtedly ordered him to get rid of the messages that said so. He did as he was told. I'm not saying that's an excuse, but this is not the guy who caused the spill, nor is he the guy that never spent a penny of billions in profit to find better ways of stopping and cleaning up such a disaster.
A terrible shame that he's the first to be charged. Let's hope he's not the last and that more people above him... wayyyyy above him (I'm thinking that arrogant British sod who couldn't be bothered to care, BP's CEO?)... pay a price.
If corporations are people, when will they be prosecuted and held responsible for criminal negligence and destruction of lives and property?
The question(s) that begged to be asked, how much did you know and when did you know it?
Another one of those baseless cases the Dept of Injustice will wind up dropping. But it does make good fodder for the righteous indignation crowd.
Hydrofrackers, take notice. Your Halliburton exemptions from all major federal environmental rules, will not shield you from criminal liability.
But who can protect us from the Obama Doctrine
Who can protect us from trolls like you?
He is not a troll. He would have to be elevated to reach that status. After what he has done to the Middle Class, our healthcare System and our economy he will get his reward this November and a permanent vacation in Chicago with the rest of the crooks up their
If McCain and his repub friends were in control, we would be in a severe depression !!!!!!!
aka Hover
Really?? What have we been in for the past three years with Da Comrade in the WH? A picnic in the park? What have you been smoking?
Keep telling yourself it will all get better as each successive Executive Order is issued by Obama. Gee, I seem to remember Senator Obama railing against Dubya doing the same thing, yet it's OK for him to ram his agenda down our throats. So much for transparency as promised.
@Sammy - I'm sorry I've been living under a rock for the last 3 years so since you seem so educated can you please tell me what it is that Obama has done to the Middle Class, Health Care, and our economy? From where I'm sitting it looks like he's done his best to fix all of those things without the support of the Repubs in Congress.
I am pleased to tell you that my son is graduating from college next month in petroleum eng and will start work with Haliburton. Yea!!!!!!! That's a J O B. He already has a life. You have neither. Get a job and start paying your fair share or do not ever use any petroleum based products ever again. Get out of the basement, get on your unicorn, go live in a cave and wait for the the magic beans to arrive via a magic carpet and handed to you by the tinman.
This smells like 3 day old fish. It is starting to smell like our Government
Oh come on now folks, BP just loaned a some failing states some big money, along with a failing US government even more money.
David Gilbert AZ: I suggest you educate yourself on Obama's energy plan, including drilling. Much of it is exactly what you're calling for.
BIG Rich people in the North East don't give a damn about the Gulf of Mexico so long as they keep getting plenty of Natural Gas and Oil. Gulf is ruined for generations, the Atlantic coast is a sewer and now the Pacific Northwest is on the block to be trashed.
Wonder where these filhy rich bastards are going to vacation when the whole world is a trash dump.
Maybe you should ask Al Gore, Bill Clinton and Barack & family where they will be vacationing after January 2013.
Don't forget Holder, Pelosi and Hillary...gone baby gone.
Remember "Drill-baby-Drill and "This is a shakedown"?
A.K.A why I don't vote GOP anymore.
The other reason is: Limited Intelligence and having been Obama washed
Sammy, you would do well to back up your "talking points" with facts if you want to be taken seriously. Espousing ridiculous one-liner assertions simply makes you look uninformed and uneducated. In my humble opinion, you are bashing the wrong team since the things you accuse the current administration of are not a result of them but of previous republications. Do some research, dude! Open your mind!
Remember this moment when the Keystone pipeline goes in and there is a disaster. The same people who are pushing for it (drill, baby drill) will be the first to cry foul when there is a ruptured pape and another oil spill.
There are more than 600K miles of pipelines in the US now operating safely, we have that technology down pretty well.
Ok TexEx you want some facts. More oil has entered to ocean throught natural seepage that through all the man made problems. I you want to save the oceans drill all the oil out from under as fast as possible so the potential for future problems is no longer there. Telling someone to do research with out doing any yourself just makes you look ignorant. Bp had as eariler mentioned had little oversight of this well and sub-contractors are the real problems. Why are people so mad at the execs who have done well for themselves. You are all just jealous and probably lazy. Many of them still work 14-16 hour days.
Sethr2: And that backs up Sammy's comment how?
Real nice of them to ante up pennies on the dollar as reparation.
BP, the poster child for getting your ass kicked for an accident and then paying through your f ing nose to businesses that had no business doing business anyway.
What a country for the liberal media to hack on. When do we get to hack on the Federal Government for errantly spending trillions for go no where "greenie" shops and union bosses.
Of course they knew how much oil was spilling out every day!!! It is their business to know what the production of any well is, both with and without artificial pressure. That is how they make their money. So then, if the government "fines" them over and above the restitution amount already set aside, does that mean that in a year, our gasoline prices will again jump a dollar or two???? A more fair for the public way of handling it would be to enforce a price freeze back to the pre-explosion days for the next five to ten years. That would keep them from making the public pay yet again for their aragant disregard for life and the earth!!
Debbie do you know how complicated the math for something like that is? I am going to assume no but here is just a sample. First pressure. The pressure at the bottom of the well thousands of feet below the ocean floor. that can only be estimated after the pipe broke. The pressure of the water where the pipe is leaking. Depending on those you need an exact measurment of the surface area that the oil has to come out. Do you think you can figure this out with that pipe being over a thousand feet deep in the water. That is way everything is estamites. It is not there business to know exactly. It only there job to measure it once its out and sewll it that way. Going in is always a gamble on the part of the company on wheather or not they will make money.
except that this well wasn't being produced so they would not have any way of knowing what the flow rates were. This well was just finishing being drilled. There's a pretty big lag time for offshore wells between drilling and production due to the need for production platforms.
Delusional Republican mantra: "business will always do the right thing"
Go after all of them no matter how high up the chain it goes. They put a foreign companies profits ahead of their country. Throw the book at them.
Typical America to go after the low level people. What are the odds they will perp walk the CEO?
I thought that Joe Barton and the GOP already apologized to BP for letting our beaches and wild life get in the way of their oil spill? I can't believe that it took them 2 years to find a scapegoat to go to jail for it. Why aren't they prosecuting the criminals that where truly responsible for it?
LOL...I read that and got an image of a politician yelling at a oil covered baby seal for causing BP so many problems. We all know what will happen. The low level folks will go to prison, the high level folks will pay fines from the company coffers and the rest of us will move on to the next article.