I recall the day the BP oil spill flashed across the newscast wondering where were all of the high paid engineers that put the rig together and why they could not figure out how to plug it. It is interesting that the DOJ still has not commenced any criminal or civil suits against BP but it is perhaps because of all the layers of this cover up. Also, the fact that Congress has failed to address the regulatory shortfalls that contributed to this disaster is unacceptable. I feel that the people that knew about the flaws should be convicted because the corporations will probably just get a slap on the hand. How this spill effects the lives and wildlife along the Gulf will be the greatest tragedy.
I also remember when the oil spill happened. It never made sense to me how it could take so long to plug a leak that they promised was so small. Reading the article made me laugh a little that BP would try to play that whole "technical challenge" trick on not being able to properly measure how much oil was spilled. With all the technology that we have today that should not be a problem. Not to mention the fact that the presidential commission's investigators cannot figure out how BP got the estimate they first released on the oil spill. I am a little worried that the suits already filed may not make it all the way through court and BP get charged if they stay focused solely on the difference in the flow rate of the leak. As a last thought something that has my attention is to see if investigations reveal how involved Doug Suttles was in everything that happened. With him having retired not too long afterward I'm curious to see what is brought to the surface.
Oh Tony, your complacent attitude did nothing but hinder the progress towards capping the well. I feel that I am not crazy when I say there was a conspiracy on how the size of the leak was improperly assessed. All to save their quickly descending shares and to reduce the company’s exposure to bigger fines than they already have to pay. In the aftermath, the guilt was inevitably discovered. Eric Holder said he will be looking into whether the BP administrators were withholding information or providing false data about the size of the leak. I’m no rocket surgeon, but I can tell you it already felt like a cover-up before the real truth about the size of the spill emerged. Rumor has it that Tony knew about the safety of the oil rig before it went down. But, instead – he ordered the continuation of drilling; ending with eleven people dead. Ten days it took for Tony to change his story from “very very modest” oil spill to “environmental catastrophe”. What a waste of oil.
The Bp oil spill was a devastating disaster that presently affects the people of the Gulf Coast till this very day. The Bp oil rig that busted killed 11 workers and injured the lives of many others. On top of killing and injuring people, tremendous amounts of toxic oil entered the Gulf of Mexico. The Bp oil spill wasn’t handled properly and in my opinion they didn’t follow proper procedures to insure the safety of the people and wildlife nor did they effectively control the toxic oil from entering the Gulf. The article stated, “According to federal officials, BP was solely responsible for producing the very first spill estimate of 1,000 barrels per day,” in conclusion to that statement, Bp doesn’t sound environmentally ethical to me. The Bp oil spill is still under investigation so the crime committed in which we tend to believe is a white collar crime is still up for discussion. A criminal charge that Bp is encountering is possible negligence or malfeasance in the ongoing Gulf of Mexico. I believe something “fishy” was committed and illegal actions were secretly done and soon America will know exactly what did cause this devastating disaster.
In my opinion, and after everything I've read or watched about this oil spill, BP's responses seem typical. When I say typical I mean so many times we've heard of officials, politicians, CEOs, and etc covering-up or playing dumb to catastrophes they’re deemed responsible for. The irony behind it is that prosecutors are using BP’s initial statements about the size of the oil spill (which BP sugar-coated, obviously) as ammo against the company itself. We want answers as to why they lies were told and have yet to get any. Sort of beating a dead horse, I think. Whether they were too incompetent or purposely hiding the truth is a mystery... and I don’t think BP will ever outright admit to either. It’s hard to wrap my head around the idea, however, that BP lied about the leak thinking they could get away with it. There’s absolutely NO possible way to do that. On the other hand, it’s as though we're saying we would have been satisfied if BP came out in the beginning and said this was a disaster; that somehow this would have resulted in less finger pointing, more advanced recovery tactics from the get-go, and less controversy. My question is, would we actually have been anymore satisfied with BP claiming responsibility and fault from the start, or would we have found another reason to point a finger, accuse, and sue the company for incompetent behavior? Regardless of the way things are now, I don’t believe anyone wants these things to happen, and when they do is there ever really a right or wrong way to handle it? We say we want honesty but we will still be unsatisfied. For BP it was and always will be lose-lose because of the spill. No matter what, BP goes down and everyone affected by this will see to it.
Reading this article made me laugh, a lot; especially because I liked how the writer/reporter made it a point to emphasize the fact that BP didn’t release the “right” information to the government or to the public in the immediate aftermath of the explosion and the spill. SHOCKING! It’s just what Nicole said; this is “typical” and not surprising anymore. Just more rich guys trying to cover there own butts because God forbid that they take responsibility for anything in there lives. To me this incident is just another repercussion of wanting to save money, because as we all know they don’t have enough of it. This incident also just proves to me the HUGE egos these CEO’s and Engineers have. They just think that they can just Half-ass steps on securing their pipes and everything will be okay. They don’t take into consideration the terrible outcomes that can occur by doing this because they want to save a quick buck or because they don’t “feel” like it. In an article by MSNBC it said: “A critical device at the center of an investigation into the Gulf oil rig explosion didn't undergo a rigorous recertification process in 2005 as required by federal regulators, a worker responsible for maintaining the equipment told investigators Wednesday.” This “critical device” is what is called a “blowout preventer.” Its purpose according to the article was to prevent a spill in the case of an explosion. So obviously this piece of equipment was important but because maintenance crews didn’t want to go and dig for it in the water and check it, they decided it was “fine” and moved on. Obama was right, “failure.”
In my opinion, the BP disaster is just another illustration of BIG CORPORATIONS and businesses with money and power manipulating a system for their good, even when they are at fault. I don’t understand exactly what BP was attempting to cover-up by releasing the flow rate of 1,000 barrels per day to the public when in fact the actual estimation was around 50,000 barrels of oil per day. Then again it was most likely to try to maneuver away from the fine of $4,300 per barrel of oil for unlawful discharge. This may be a little off topic, but I am an evacuee from Hurricane Katrina and it baffles and disturbs me when I think about how New Orleans can possibly get back on their feet after having the Gulf Coast waters polluted with toxic oil. The heart of the city revolves around the sea food, which effects New Orleans and other states along the coast. Based on reading this article and watching a few news reports, I do believe that BP knew well ahead of the flow rate of oil being released based on the technology that they possessed. “Documents and interviews also indicate that BP, using reservoir data, computer modeling and imagery of the leaking pipe, may have had the ability to calculate a far more accurate estimate of the well's flow rate early on in the spill than it provided to the government. The company either never fully ran those calculations or their results were not disclosed to federal responders.” I’m going to take a stab and say they knew and lied to the public. But backing up TEXASLINEDRIVER, what do you expect from companies when they are facing charges and penalties that jeopardize the wealth, stability, and growth of their company. There Texas complex shines through and there ego is too big to act as real leader in leadership roles and take ownership for their actions. So they run from the truth hidden behind there dollar signs.
Additional comments on the BP spill are that the decisions to continue drilling, when they knew there were problems, was criminal irresponsibility driven by economic gain.
I remember when I saw the oil spill on the news and all of the devastating pictures of the animals that were soaked in the oil. It was really shocking to see how many volunteers had come together to help clean up the mess while BP was doing everything they can to make the spill look like it was just something small that they can fix quickly. For the engineer to be so quick to say no, that the spill could not turn into an Exxon Valdez disaster, makes me feel like he didn't want to be blamed for the failure of the structure. From 1,000 to 50,000 barrels a day that was leaking is a huge difference. I believe BP had a better estimate of the leak but failed to give that estimate so that their image isn't at risk and so they can try to cover up as much of the spill as they can to keep from getting fined. I just feel like when the spill happened, all BP wanted to do was make themselves still look good but not really have to clean up their mess.
Having killed 11 individuals and caused much damage to our environment, the oil spill is a serious white collar crime situation that has not fully been dealt with,just as many other white collar crimes.First of all, falsifying to the public about how there was only 1,000 barrels of oil leaking is just a cover-up that the BP should not have been doing just to cover their butts. Reality is that it wasn't just 1,000 barrels, but 50,0000. What if the government were to have a specific responsibility as to look after such corporations. Right now the government doesn't really want to get involved yet, rather have the BP just fix their mess, which they don't want to do. So if they just keep going back and forth about this, who will fix it and when! -Lis
The BP oil spill is definitely an example of not only a catastrophic environmental crime but also an example of a white collar crime. In the article, it says BP downplayed the actual amount of oil being pumped into the Gulf when in reality, the spill was producing the same amount of spillage of Exxon Valdez every FIVE days. It seems to me that BP was downplaying their mistake in order to avoid fines and a bad reputation instead of owning up to it in the first place. I strongly believe that if BP acted responsibly in the beginning and were honest about the destruction, the aftermath would not have been as bad. I agree with ramkidd15 in respect to that the BP oil spill is just yet another example of big corporations trying to get away with disasters just to protect their public image or to profit in some way.
After seeing this tragedy on the news, reading this article, and reading everyone's posts on here it made me realize that there are so many beliefs about just one topic and all I believe are right. The BP oil spill could have been a conspiracy, or it could have been on accident. No one knows the real truth about what happened except for the people who were involved. But what we do know is that they lied to the public about how much oil would spill daily. Going from 1,000 barrels a day to 50,000 is absurd. Knowing those crucial facts and elements about how much oil would spill daily if a disaster were to happen should be a main thought to these people. This topic must have come up eventually. They should have calculated this and known. Saying they didn't know makes them questionable on how educated they were to have a career in this field. This obviously was to cover up their stupidity and who knows what would happen if they were to tell the truth about everything. This definitely falls under white collar crime and the people that were involved should not get off with just a slap on the wrist and some petty fines. They were responsible for killing and injuring people. And as I write this I begin to think about what we talked about in class today about capital punishment. But I will just leave it at that.
BP is the same as any other business, all they care about is how much money they make and how much they lose. It is apparent to me that BP did in fact know how much oil was being leaked and they made up the original numbers they reported hoping that they could plug the leak before anyone knew better. This fictitious number released by BP led to a bigger problem in the gulf as more oil was spilled while people took their time to try and plug the leak. I wish BP would be fined an excessive amount for their obvious deception. However, knowing about past oil spills they will probably receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist and be charged with helping to clean up their mess.
I would agree that there should be some accountability on the part of BP. Also, I find it interesting that the DOJ has not sought criminal or civil charges against BP. BP failed to provide accurate information in the beginning and continued to mislead public officials with faulty information on the amount of oil spill. This would indicate that BP was withholding information directly related to the spill. However, I would consider this a corporate crime due to the manipulation involving the original spill size, the withholding of data, and providing false information. Additional indictments related to BP have to do with the faulty flow rate estimates that were reported in the beginning. Even though BP owned the platform I would have to shift some of the blame to our government officials that inspected the platform before the rig explored. Even though the Attorney General began a criminal investigation into the sinking of the oil platform, I wonder if prosecutors can prove negligence or wrong doing on the part of BP. The general public may never know the truth involving this incident and who should be held accountable.
i believe the B.p. should be responsable for all the damages done, it was their well that leaked.. no matter who was doing the drilling at the time the company is supposed to be on top of things. Over seeing the wells is an important part ot their job and should be taken seriously. Anyone who wants to believe that they had no clue or didnt know how much oil was coming out of the well must be a idiot or just plain stupid. B.p. was sending people down their to try to fix the well with many diffrent parts and they could see with there own eyes unless they were blind and that cvould explain why that took so long to fix. it dosent take a computer to find that the well was pumping out 1,000 more barrels then the original amount they were saying, when you see on the land,sea and wildlife that there was a huge deficit all B.P. was trying to do was cover their asses because some hot shot was saying keep drilling instead of stopping for a couple hours and fix the bent drill pipe apparently it didnt work. many people on the coast make a living on the ecosystem that the ocean has to offer when the oil spill happened it put 100's of people on the coasts in the gulf out of work for sometime, i personally think that B.P should have to compensate all the fisherman, seafood resturant owners, and bioliogist that were doing feild experiments or daily business. it will takes months or even years for B.P to get there "status" back so that people will continue to travel to the coast to get away from there daily lives and keep the economical stature back along the coast.
Personally, in my opinion, I think that BP should most definitely be held accountable and it is sad that they have not been doing the best they can, to amend for their accidental oil spill. It seems to me that like everything else, in our world, money can hush just about anything. Lives were lost and dramatically changed and affected because of this company’s spill. The company is still going strong, financially stable, and the least they could do is take full financial responsibility. BP should pay all the fines (without any “waivers”) and they should be 100% accountable for all clean up. Also, I agree with both Shirley & Rebecca, why did it take so long to plug the leak & where in the world were the original engineers who put the rig together. It really amazes me that the leak lasted as long as it did, and with all the money that company has, that they would have the nerve to argue over a few “pennies” in comparison to their extensive bank accounts.
Before the explosion, there were several employees that went to top management to warn them of the safety issues but were dismissed. Wonder what happened to those employees....huh? Rather than halt the production of the well, the corporations continued because of their greed. I agree with Kristi that this may have been a well thought out conspiracy. Since many corporate employees are shielded within layers of the corporation, it may take years to sort through all of this. I also that the investigation is being drawn out because the lawyers will certainly profit big. I do hope that the families of those that died will be well taken care of because their lives will never be the same.
Response to Erika Rice I would agree with you that BP should be held accountable; BP owned the platform. However, the deregulation of companies by government officials allowed this spill to happen because there was a lack of accountability. Corporate lobbyists have gained access to our government officials and government agencies and are able to influence both with empty promises and cash. Where are the EPA inspection records and other classified documents? This is a case where government agencies are not held accountable. Everyone wants to shift blame to BP for this terrible accident. It seems that deregulation by our government has taken another corporate victim. Because of their action individual lives and small business are directly affected. BP was compensating private fisherman industries and other businesses along the coast. However, government officials wanted to be directly involved in redistributing the money. People now have to fill out more paper work and wait longer for their money because another government agency is involved. In conclusion, there were two types of criminal activity corporate crime and government crime. Aug,30 2011 8:46AM
In regards to the BP oil spill I think everyone involved in this disaster and the cover up that ensued should be held accountable and be prosecuted. Everyone from the CEO to the scientist who falsified the amount of oil spilling each day; each person should be prosecuted in criminal court as well as civil court. This corporation caused thousands of people thousands of money in an already devastating economy not to mention the men who lost their lives on the rig but also the countless amount of sea life that suffered from this preventable disaster. I am all about finding new ways to obtain oil, as long as safety concerns are followed and companies take accountability if problems arise. BP did itself a disservice when they lied to the American people about the severity of the spill, and therefore cost not only citizens, but also themselves thousands of dollars. Simply fining BP for their negligence does not seem like enough, and maybe if people were prosecuted to the letter of the law other corporations will take notice and this disaster will not repeat itself. Repercussions are still happening over a year later, and there will be no way to determine the amount of time it takes for the people and the environment harmed from this catastrophic event to recover.
The BP spill destoyed the enviorment in the Gulf Coast and will continue too for years to come. BP had an educated guess at how much oil actually was spilling but continued to tell people a way lower number. BP expected to pay a fine, a fine to these people is a slap on the wrist. They pay a fine and move on while the enviorment pays for who knows how long. The repercusions of this spill effected fishermen, sea life, and the Gulf Coast ecosystem as a whole.
On September 1, 2011, it has been reported that Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. has filed suit against BP for the "cover up scheme" to hide the cause for the deadly rig explosion that created last year's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Halliburton, which contracted the cement work on BP's Macondo well, claims that BP provided false information about the location of pockets of oil and gas around the well before the blowout. Halliburton is claiming that knowledge of these locations is essential for an effective cementing job. "Profit and greed" were BP's motives for concealing the information, the lawsuit alleges. Halliburton states that it would have redesigned the well's production casing if it had known about an additional hydrocarbon zone that BP allegedly failed to disclose. According to records, BP has accepted its responsibility for the spill in paying cost and compensation. In contract, Halliburton has refused to accept any accountability or responsibility. In addition to suing BP in the Texas state court, Halliburton has also amended existing claims against BP in federal court to include fraud allegations.
BP had an excellent staff of “Spin Doctors “and “Smoke Blowers”, just enough information to the public to avoid the super snoops and taking blame for far less than what really happened. Now that the Justice Department has launched a criminal probe the REAL facts which, were known by BP before the explosion of the pipeline, the employees and officials are being examined to discern if a criminal offense has been committed. Criminal neglect, at the very least for the environment as well as to human lives that were negatively affected. They began by feeding low ball numbers to the Coast Guard as to the gallons of oil which was leaking. Can a direct link be established between the corporation and the knowledge prior to the oil leak? Yes, but if too much time passes, the link between the oil which was spilled and the damage it has done and is doing will get harder to connect to the original spill. They have a campaign on television which has fishermen and restraint owners going on about haw remarkable the BP Company in and how wonderful they have cleaned up ALL the damage of the spill. The seafood is excellent come see for yourself. The resort owner who claims the beaches are pristine and the water good. The waters and environment are not as good up stream and coating the bottom of the ocean. Being a good steward of the earth is the responsibility of every person who inhabits it, corporate America needs to grow a real conscious and do the right thing. The bottom line is we only have one EARTH.
I recall the day the BP oil spill flashed across the newscast wondering where were all of the high paid engineers that put the rig together and why they could not figure out how to plug it. It is interesting that the DOJ still has not commenced any criminal or civil suits against BP but it is perhaps because of all the layers of this cover up. Also, the fact that Congress has failed to address the regulatory shortfalls that contributed to this disaster is unacceptable. I feel that the people that knew about the flaws should be convicted because the corporations will probably just get a slap on the hand. How this spill effects the lives and wildlife along the Gulf will be the greatest tragedy.
ReplyDeleteI also remember when the oil spill happened. It never made sense to me how it could take so long to plug a leak that they promised was so small. Reading the article made me laugh a little that BP would try to play that whole "technical challenge" trick on not being able to properly measure how much oil was spilled. With all the technology that we have today that should not be a problem. Not to mention the fact that the presidential commission's investigators cannot figure out how BP got the estimate they first released on the oil spill. I am a little worried that the suits already filed may not make it all the way through court and BP get charged if they stay focused solely on the difference in the flow rate of the leak. As a last thought something that has my attention is to see if investigations reveal how involved Doug Suttles was in everything that happened. With him having retired not too long afterward I'm curious to see what is brought to the surface.
ReplyDeleteOh Tony, your complacent attitude did nothing but hinder the progress towards capping the well. I feel that I am not crazy when I say there was a conspiracy on how the size of the leak was improperly assessed. All to save their quickly descending shares and to reduce the company’s exposure to bigger fines than they already have to pay. In the aftermath, the guilt was inevitably discovered. Eric Holder said he will be looking into whether the BP administrators were withholding information or providing false data about the size of the leak. I’m no rocket surgeon, but I can tell you it already felt like a cover-up before the real truth about the size of the spill emerged. Rumor has it that Tony knew about the safety of the oil rig before it went down. But, instead – he ordered the continuation of drilling; ending with eleven people dead. Ten days it took for Tony to change his story from “very very modest” oil spill to “environmental catastrophe”. What a waste of oil.
ReplyDeleteThe Bp oil spill was a devastating disaster that presently affects the people of the Gulf Coast till this very day. The Bp oil rig that busted killed 11 workers and injured the lives of many others. On top of killing and injuring people, tremendous amounts of toxic oil entered the Gulf of Mexico. The Bp oil spill wasn’t handled properly and in my opinion they didn’t follow proper procedures to insure the safety of the people and wildlife nor did they effectively control the toxic oil from entering the Gulf. The article stated, “According to federal officials, BP was solely responsible for producing the very first spill estimate of 1,000 barrels per day,” in conclusion to that statement, Bp doesn’t sound environmentally ethical to me. The Bp oil spill is still under investigation so the crime committed in which we tend to believe is a white collar crime is still up for discussion. A criminal charge that Bp is encountering is possible negligence or malfeasance in the ongoing Gulf of Mexico. I believe something “fishy” was committed and illegal actions were secretly done and soon America will know exactly what did cause this devastating disaster.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, and after everything I've read or watched about this oil spill, BP's responses seem typical. When I say typical I mean so many times we've heard of officials, politicians, CEOs, and etc covering-up or playing dumb to catastrophes they’re deemed responsible for. The irony behind it is that prosecutors are using BP’s initial statements about the size of the oil spill (which BP sugar-coated, obviously) as ammo against the company itself. We want answers as to why they lies were told and have yet to get any. Sort of beating a dead horse, I think. Whether they were too incompetent or purposely hiding the truth is a mystery... and I don’t think BP will ever outright admit to either. It’s hard to wrap my head around the idea, however, that BP lied about the leak thinking they could get away with it. There’s absolutely NO possible way to do that. On the other hand, it’s as though we're saying we would have been satisfied if BP came out in the beginning and said this was a disaster; that somehow this would have resulted in less finger pointing, more advanced recovery tactics from the get-go, and less controversy. My question is, would we actually have been anymore satisfied with BP claiming responsibility and fault from the start, or would we have found another reason to point a finger, accuse, and sue the company for incompetent behavior? Regardless of the way things are now, I don’t believe anyone wants these things to happen, and when they do is there ever really a right or wrong way to handle it? We say we want honesty but we will still be unsatisfied. For BP it was and always will be lose-lose because of the spill. No matter what, BP goes down and everyone affected by this will see to it.
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ReplyDeleteReading this article made me laugh, a lot; especially because I liked how the writer/reporter made it a point to emphasize the fact that BP didn’t release the “right” information to the government or to the public in the immediate aftermath of the explosion and the spill. SHOCKING! It’s just what Nicole said; this is “typical” and not surprising anymore. Just more rich guys trying to cover there own butts because God forbid that they take responsibility for anything in there lives.
ReplyDeleteTo me this incident is just another repercussion of wanting to save money, because as we all know they don’t have enough of it. This incident also just proves to me the HUGE egos these CEO’s and Engineers have. They just think that they can just Half-ass steps on securing their pipes and everything will be okay. They don’t take into consideration the terrible outcomes that can occur by doing this because they want to save a quick buck or because they don’t “feel” like it. In an article by MSNBC it said: “A critical device at the center of an investigation into the Gulf oil rig explosion didn't undergo a rigorous recertification process in 2005 as required by federal regulators, a worker responsible for maintaining the equipment told investigators Wednesday.” This “critical device” is what is called a “blowout preventer.” Its purpose according to the article was to prevent a spill in the case of an explosion. So obviously this piece of equipment was important but because maintenance crews didn’t want to go and dig for it in the water and check it, they decided it was “fine” and moved on. Obama was right, “failure.”
In my opinion, the BP disaster is just another illustration of BIG CORPORATIONS and businesses with money and power manipulating a system for their good, even when they are at fault. I don’t understand exactly what BP was attempting to cover-up by releasing the flow rate of 1,000 barrels per day to the public when in fact the actual estimation was around 50,000 barrels of oil per day. Then again it was most likely to try to maneuver away from the fine of $4,300 per barrel of oil for unlawful discharge. This may be a little off topic, but I am an evacuee from Hurricane Katrina and it baffles and disturbs me when I think about how New Orleans can possibly get back on their feet after having the Gulf Coast waters polluted with toxic oil. The heart of the city revolves around the sea food, which effects New Orleans and other states along the coast. Based on reading this article and watching a few news reports, I do believe that BP knew well ahead of the flow rate of oil being released based on the technology that they possessed. “Documents and interviews also indicate that BP, using reservoir data, computer modeling and imagery of the leaking pipe, may have had the ability to calculate a far more accurate estimate of the well's flow rate early on in the spill than it provided to the government. The company either never fully ran those calculations or their results were not disclosed to federal responders.” I’m going to take a stab and say they knew and lied to the public. But backing up TEXASLINEDRIVER, what do you expect from companies when they are facing charges and penalties that jeopardize the wealth, stability, and growth of their company. There Texas complex shines through and there ego is too big to act as real leader in leadership roles and take ownership for their actions. So they run from the truth hidden behind there dollar signs.
ReplyDeleteAdditional comments on the BP spill are that the decisions to continue drilling, when they knew there were problems, was criminal irresponsibility driven by economic gain.
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ReplyDeleteI remember when I saw the oil spill on the news and all of the devastating pictures of the animals that were soaked in the oil. It was really shocking to see how many volunteers had come together to help clean up the mess while BP was doing everything they can to make the spill look like it was just something small that they can fix quickly. For the engineer to be so quick to say no, that the spill could not turn into an Exxon Valdez disaster, makes me feel like he didn't want to be blamed for the failure of the structure. From 1,000 to 50,000 barrels a day that was leaking is a huge difference. I believe BP had a better estimate of the leak but failed to give that estimate so that their image isn't at risk and so they can try to cover up as much of the spill as they can to keep from getting fined. I just feel like when the spill happened, all BP wanted to do was make themselves still look good but not really have to clean up their mess.
ReplyDeleteHaving killed 11 individuals and caused much damage to our environment, the oil spill is a serious white collar crime situation that has not fully been dealt with,just as many other white collar crimes.First of all, falsifying to the public about how there was only 1,000 barrels of oil leaking is just a cover-up that the BP should not have been doing just to cover their butts. Reality is that it wasn't just 1,000 barrels, but 50,0000. What if the government were to have a specific responsibility as to look after such corporations. Right now the government doesn't really want to get involved yet, rather have the BP just fix their mess, which they don't want to do. So if they just keep going back and forth about this, who will fix it and when!
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The BP oil spill is definitely an example of not only a catastrophic environmental crime but also an example of a white collar crime. In the article, it says BP downplayed the actual amount of oil being pumped into the Gulf when in reality, the spill was producing the same amount of spillage of Exxon Valdez every FIVE days. It seems to me that BP was downplaying their mistake in order to avoid fines and a bad reputation instead of owning up to it in the first place. I strongly believe that if BP acted responsibly in the beginning and were honest about the destruction, the aftermath would not have been as bad. I agree with ramkidd15 in respect to that the BP oil spill is just yet another example of big corporations trying to get away with disasters just to protect their public image or to profit in some way.
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing this tragedy on the news, reading this article, and reading everyone's posts on here it made me realize that there are so many beliefs about just one topic and all I believe are right. The BP oil spill could have been a conspiracy, or it could have been on accident. No one knows the real truth about what happened except for the people who were involved. But what we do know is that they lied to the public about how much oil would spill daily. Going from 1,000 barrels a day to 50,000 is absurd. Knowing those crucial facts and elements about how much oil would spill daily if a disaster were to happen should be a main thought to these people. This topic must have come up eventually. They should have calculated this and known. Saying they didn't know makes them questionable on how educated they were to have a career in this field. This obviously was to cover up their stupidity and who knows what would happen if they were to tell the truth about everything. This definitely falls under white collar crime and the people that were involved should not get off with just a slap on the wrist and some petty fines. They were responsible for killing and injuring people. And as I write this I begin to think about what we talked about in class today about capital punishment. But I will just leave it at that.
ReplyDeleteBP is the same as any other business, all they care about is how much money they make and how much they lose. It is apparent to me that BP did in fact know how much oil was being leaked and they made up the original numbers they reported hoping that they could plug the leak before anyone knew better. This fictitious number released by BP led to a bigger problem in the gulf as more oil was spilled while people took their time to try and plug the leak. I wish BP would be fined an excessive amount for their obvious deception. However, knowing about past oil spills they will probably receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist and be charged with helping to clean up their mess.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that there should be some accountability on the part of BP. Also, I find it interesting that the DOJ has not sought criminal or civil charges against BP. BP failed to provide accurate information in the beginning and continued to mislead public officials with faulty information on the amount of oil spill. This would indicate that BP was withholding information directly related to the spill. However, I would consider this a corporate crime due to the manipulation involving the original spill size, the withholding of data, and providing false information. Additional indictments related to BP have to do with the faulty flow rate estimates that were reported in the beginning. Even though BP owned the platform I would have to shift some of the blame to our government officials that inspected the platform before the rig explored. Even though the Attorney General began a criminal investigation into the sinking of the oil platform, I wonder if prosecutors can prove negligence or wrong doing on the part of BP. The general public may never know the truth involving this incident and who should be held accountable.
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ReplyDeletei believe the B.p. should be responsable for all the damages done, it was their well that leaked.. no matter who was doing the drilling at the time the company is supposed to be on top of things. Over seeing the wells is an important part ot their job and should be taken seriously. Anyone who wants to believe that they had no clue or didnt know how much oil was coming out of the well must be a idiot or just plain stupid. B.p. was sending people down their to try to fix the well with many diffrent parts and they could see with there own eyes unless they were blind and that cvould explain why that took so long to fix. it dosent take a computer to find that the well was pumping out 1,000 more barrels then the original amount they were saying, when you see on the land,sea and wildlife that there was a huge deficit all B.P. was trying to do was cover their asses because some hot shot was saying keep drilling instead of stopping for a couple hours and fix the bent drill pipe apparently it didnt work. many people on the coast make a living on the ecosystem that the ocean has to offer when the oil spill happened it put 100's of people on the coasts in the gulf out of work for sometime, i personally think that B.P should have to compensate all the fisherman, seafood resturant owners, and bioliogist that were doing feild experiments or daily business. it will takes months or even years for B.P to get there "status" back so that people will continue to travel to the coast to get away from there daily lives and keep the economical stature back along the coast.
ReplyDeletePersonally, in my opinion, I think that BP should most definitely be held accountable and it is sad that they have not been doing the best they can, to amend for their accidental oil spill. It seems to me that like everything else, in our world, money can hush just about anything. Lives were lost and dramatically changed and affected because of this company’s spill. The company is still going strong, financially stable, and the least they could do is take full financial responsibility. BP should pay all the fines (without any “waivers”) and they should be 100% accountable for all clean up. Also, I agree with both Shirley & Rebecca, why did it take so long to plug the leak & where in the world were the original engineers who put the rig together. It really amazes me that the leak lasted as long as it did, and with all the money that company has, that they would have the nerve to argue over a few “pennies” in comparison to their extensive bank accounts.
ReplyDeleteBefore the explosion, there were several employees that went to top management to warn them of the safety issues but were dismissed. Wonder what happened to those employees....huh? Rather than halt the production of the well, the corporations continued because of their greed. I agree with Kristi that this may have been a well thought out conspiracy. Since many corporate employees are shielded within layers of the corporation, it may take years to sort through all of this. I also that the investigation is being drawn out because the lawyers will certainly profit big. I do hope that the families of those that died will be well taken care of because their lives will never be the same.
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ReplyDeleteI would agree with you that BP should be held accountable; BP owned the platform. However, the deregulation of companies by government officials allowed this spill to happen because there was a lack of accountability. Corporate lobbyists have gained access to our government officials and government agencies and are able to influence both with empty promises and cash. Where are the EPA inspection records and other classified documents? This is a case where government agencies are not held accountable. Everyone wants to shift blame to BP for this terrible accident. It seems that deregulation by our government has taken another corporate victim. Because of their action individual lives and small business are directly affected. BP was compensating private fisherman industries and other businesses along the coast. However, government officials wanted to be directly involved in redistributing the money. People now have to fill out more paper work and wait longer for their money because another government agency is involved. In conclusion, there were two types of criminal activity corporate crime and government crime. Aug,30 2011 8:46AM
In regards to the BP oil spill I think everyone involved in this disaster and the cover up that ensued should be held accountable and be prosecuted. Everyone from the CEO to the scientist who falsified the amount of oil spilling each day; each person should be prosecuted in criminal court as well as civil court. This corporation caused thousands of people thousands of money in an already devastating economy not to mention the men who lost their lives on the rig but also the countless amount of sea life that suffered from this preventable disaster. I am all about finding new ways to obtain oil, as long as safety concerns are followed and companies take accountability if problems arise. BP did itself a disservice when they lied to the American people about the severity of the spill, and therefore cost not only citizens, but also themselves thousands of dollars. Simply fining BP for their negligence does not seem like enough, and maybe if people were prosecuted to the letter of the law other corporations will take notice and this disaster will not repeat itself. Repercussions are still happening over a year later, and there will be no way to determine the amount of time it takes for the people and the environment harmed from this catastrophic event to recover.
ReplyDeleteThe BP spill destoyed the enviorment in the Gulf Coast and will continue too for years to come. BP had an educated guess at how much oil actually was spilling but continued to tell people a way lower number. BP expected to pay a fine, a fine to these people is a slap on the wrist. They pay a fine and move on while the enviorment pays for who knows how long. The repercusions of this spill effected fishermen, sea life, and the Gulf Coast ecosystem as a whole.
ReplyDeleteOn September 1, 2011, it has been reported that Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. has filed suit against BP for the "cover up scheme" to hide the cause for the deadly rig explosion that created last year's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Halliburton, which contracted the cement work on BP's Macondo well, claims that BP provided false information about the location of pockets of oil and gas around the well before the blowout. Halliburton is claiming that knowledge of these locations is essential for an effective cementing job.
ReplyDelete"Profit and greed" were BP's motives for concealing the information, the lawsuit alleges. Halliburton states that it would have redesigned the well's production casing if it had known about an additional hydrocarbon zone that BP allegedly failed to disclose.
According to records, BP has accepted its responsibility for the spill in paying cost and compensation. In contract, Halliburton has refused to accept any accountability or responsibility. In addition to suing BP in the Texas state court, Halliburton has also amended existing claims against BP in federal court to include fraud allegations.
BP had an excellent staff of “Spin Doctors “and “Smoke Blowers”, just enough information to the public to avoid the super snoops and taking blame for far less than what really happened. Now that the Justice Department has launched a criminal probe the REAL facts which, were known by BP before the explosion of the pipeline, the employees and officials are being examined to discern if a criminal offense has been committed. Criminal neglect, at the very least for the environment as well as to human lives that were negatively affected. They began by feeding low ball numbers to the Coast Guard as to the gallons of oil which was leaking. Can a direct link be established between the corporation and the knowledge prior to the oil leak? Yes, but if too much time passes, the link between the oil which was spilled and the damage it has done and is doing will get harder to connect to the original spill. They have a campaign on television which has fishermen and restraint owners going on about haw remarkable the BP Company in and how wonderful they have cleaned up ALL the damage of the spill. The seafood is excellent come see for yourself. The resort owner who claims the beaches are pristine and the water good. The waters and environment are not as good up stream and coating the bottom of the ocean. Being a good steward of the earth is the responsibility of every person who inhabits it, corporate America needs to grow a real conscious and do the right thing. The bottom line is we only have one EARTH.
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