BP under attack in Texas refinery dispute
By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: October 22 2009 03:00 | Last updated: October 22 2009 03:00
A US government agency yesterday rejected BP’s request for more time to comply with its settlement agreement over a fatal explosion at its biggest refinery, opening the door to possible further action against the UK oil company.
Mark Briggs, director of the Houston Occupational Safety & Health Administration (Osha) office, said in a letter to BP that the company had not given a valid reason for the delay.
“BP has failed to demonstrate that its failures to comply are because of factors beyond its reasonable control,” Mr Briggs said in a letter to Keith Casey, business unit leader of BP’s Texas City refinery.
The company had failed to commit itself to take measures that would cure problems in pressure relief systems or address identified residual risks as agreed in the settlement agreement, he said in the letter, dated October 15.
BP’s compliance with Osha was one of the terms of its probation , set by the Department of Justice in 2007, when BP agreed to three years’ probation and to pay fines totalling $380m to US authorities to settle violations linked to the refinery explosion, oil pipeline leaks and fraud in energy trading.
Andrew Ames, spokesman for the justice department, told the Financial Times the department would take “all appropriate steps to ensure BP complies with all conditions of its probation”.
The probation dates back to the 2005 explosion at the refinery, which killed 15 people and left hundreds injured.
Osha found more than 300 “egregious, wilful violations” in Texas City after the blast. While BP did not admit guilt, it agreed in a settlement with Osha to a maximum allowable $21m fine and to spend $1bn on the refinery over the next five years, bringing it into compliance.
See FT.com for additional information
