When the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April 2010, the harm was immediate, long-lasting and far-reaching. First, 11 men were killed. Beyond that tragedy, though, was the ensuing environmental destruction. For 87 days after the blowout, oil spewed from its source beneath the Gulf of Mexico – in all, an estimated 4.9 million barrels glugged into the gulf. The shocking loss and damage aside, perhaps what is most disheartening is that those who were operating the rig were aware that it had mechanical difficulties and hiccups that workers had noted but chose repeatedly to ignore the abnormalities. For that, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled that BP acted grossly negligent in the incident, as did the companies partners in the rig: Transocean and Halliburton.
Judge Carl J. Barbier on Thursday issued a ruling in which he minced no words about the level of negligence BP, Transocean and Halliburton demonstrated leading up to the Deepwater Horizon’s blowout. While Barbier found Transocean, which owned the rig, and Halliburton, which cemented the rig, somewhat responsible for the accident – 30 percent and 3 percent, respectively – he saved the lion’s share of the blame for BP. Further, Barbier found that the company’s refusal to address the mounting danger signs was for the wrong, if expected, reasons: cost and expediency. In his ruling, Barbier wrote that BP’s decisions were “primarily driven by a desire to save time and money, rather than ensuring that the well was secure.”
When the stakes are as high as those associated with deep-sea drilling – as evidenced by what occurred when the Deepwater Horizon blew out – the primary concern must be safety: of the workers, first and foremost. Secondary – but still far before cost and time priorities – is ensuring that the rig is sound so as to avoid the devastating environmental disaster that such a blowout wreaks. BP did not do so, and, in fact, willfully declined to make the needed repairs before the rig’s explosion. The costs of that negligence are far beyond what BP and its cohorts can ever pay.
And pay they have. BP has paid $4 billion in penalties for a criminal case in which the company pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges. It has also paid $28 billion in claims for damages related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Halliburton and Transocean are negotiating payments as well, but Barbier’s ruling opens the door for enormous levies. The company could face up to $81 billion in fines under the Clean Water Act, which has little patience for the gross negligence or willful misconduct that BP demonstrated in its handling of the Deepwater Horizon. Certainly, BP will fight against that potentiality – it already has promised to appeal Barbier’s ruling – but the message is clear: In failing to adapt its practices to make safety paramount – all the more important in a setting wherein the consequences of corner-cutting are extreme – BP failed its employees, its shareholders and the fragile ecosystem it disrupted so dramatically. A harsh ruling is appropriate.
