Department of Justice Targets Gulf Oil Spill Disaster and British Petroleum
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder informed the media yesterday that the federal government has opened criminal and civil investigations into the 44 day-old oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, as reported in the L.A. Daily News and elsewhere. Last month, U.S. President Barack Obama appointed an independent commission to investigate the causes of the disaster and to recommend measures to prevent a recurrence in the future. The commission is co-chaired by former Florida Governor Bob Graham and former head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, William K. Reilly.
The lack of procedures to handle the possibility of a deep undersea spill and the seeming lack of haste in staunching the spill by United Kingdom-based British Petroleum, which leases the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, and Switzerland-based Transocean, Ltd., which owns the rig, have justly opened the companies to public criticism and condemnation, civil suits and likely civil penalties and fines. The disaster is the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, and is on its way to becoming the largest spill in world history as the leak continues (the largest was the willful discharge of oil by the Iraqi military from the Sea Island Terminal in Iraq in January of 1991 during the Gulf War, which discharged 462 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf).
Some challenges facing any potential criminal investigation or prosecution include the fact that the spill is allegedly accidental, and that its source was some 52 miles southeast of Louisiana--outside U.S. territorial waters. However, some theories of prosecution may be available. For instance, Title 33 United States Code Section 1321, entitled "Oil and hazardous substance liability," applies to discharges from "offshore facilities." The statute provides, in part, that:
(3) The discharge of oil or hazardous substances (i) into or upon the navigable waters of the United States, adjoining shorelines, or into or upon the waters of the contiguous zone, or (ii) in connection with activities under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act [43 U.S.C.A. § 1331 et seq.] or the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 [33 U.S.C.A. § 1501 et seq.], or which may affect natural resources belonging to, appertaining to, or under the exclusive management authority of the United States (including resources under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act [16 U.S.C.A. § 1801 et seq.] ), in such quantities as may be harmful as determined by the President under paragraph (4) of this subsection, is prohibited...
33 U.S.C. 1321(b)(3). Persons in charge of a vessel or offshore facility and having knowledge of a discharge of oil must immediately notify the appropriate U.S. agency. Failure to do so can result in a fine and up to 5 years' imprisonment. The statute also provides for administrative and civil penalties for owners, operators or persons in charge of vessels or facilities from which there is a discharge, or who fail or refuse to comply with relevant regulations issued by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection agency, as well as any recovery costs by the government.
Undoubtedly, grounds for charges might be found in the U.S.' extensive environmental laws and regulations. One thing is certain--now that the Department of Justice has been mobilized to respond to the disaster, the corporate actors in relation to the spill will almost certainly not emerge without paying a steep criminal and civil settlement.
