Possible Manslaughter Charges for BP Execs

(Posted on 22/04/11)

The U.S. has warned for the past year the possibility of criminal manslaughter charges against one or more BP executives. That possibility has slowly grown to what some are now saying is a probability. "No one's being held accountable for the deaths of those eleven workers", says on Gulf Coast resident. The offshore oil spill is the biggest in American history.
American investigators are considering whether former CEO Tony Hayward lied during congressional hearings in 2010. Hayward's not the only one who may find himself in an American courtroom. The U.S. Justice Department, which filed a civil lawsuit against BP late 2010, is investigating several managers and executives, including some who worked on the rig and onshore. If it's discovered they knew the potential danger, but were more concerned with deadlines and profits, there could be criminal repercussions for those people as well.
While the federal government continues its investigation, gulf states have their own state processes each is considering. The Alabama attorney general, along with Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana attorneys general, are all considering their own charges and American lawyers have been filing numerous lawsuits against all the parties involved.
More recently, several American agencies have been focusing their investigations to include Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig. With the release of the results of the recent investigation into what went wrong, it was determined a valve was damaged and that damage is what prevented the safety mechanisms to kick in and do their jobs.
For now, all the investigations continue simultaneously. Meanwhile, residents along the southern Gulf Coast continue to find tar balls and recently, a wide sheen of oil was spotted in the middle of the Gulf. Business owners are trying to pick up the pieces, though many were forced into bankruptcy last summer when the tourist season halted almost in its totality. Dolphins, fish and other sea life continue to come ashore all along the coast line, though the American government insists the seafood is safe for consumption again.

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