BP along with 8 other companies are being sued by the Justice Department for the damage caused in last summer's oil spill. It has been called the worst oil spill in history. The case accuses BP and the other companies for not abiding by certain regulations and neglecting to stop the fires and explosion which caused the oil rig to fail. It is estimated that the companies will owe tens of billions of dollars in fines. Even though the spill has been contained the Justice Department is determined to finish investigating this case and to prevent disasters like this from occurring in the future. The criminal investigation is focusing on BP, Transocean and Halliburton, the companies most responsible for the spill. So far BP has been cooperating.
Will large companies like this be able to recover from the enormous amount of negative publicity they have received?
Will the fines be enough of a punishment to discourage other large companies from cutting corners?
I'm glad that the government is finally trying to severely punish one of the big oil companies. So many times you hear of stories like this and then they kind of die off and people forget. It's nice to see a significant change.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like so long ago when the spill happened. I guess it is a good thing that BP is cooperating. I think that even though the companies are being sued and fined for tens of billions of dollars, they will still recover. I know the oil spill was devastating and detrimental, but I think it definitely raised awareness to other oil companies.
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