BP Fined $50 Million in Texas Refinery Blast That Killed 15

BP Fined $50 Million in Texas Refinery Blast That Killed 15

by Mike Hall, Oct 25, 2007

Oil giant BP today agreed to pay $50 million in fines to settle a criminal case over a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers and injured 170 at a refinery in Texas City, Texas. That brings to more than $70 million in federal fines BP has paid related to the blast.

Today’s agreement, announced by the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, follows a $21.3 million fine levied in September 2005 by the Occupational Safety Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). The fine included penalties for what OSHA termed 170 “egregious and willful violations” of safety rules.

The Houston Chronicle reported today that BP also has settled at least 3,000 lawsuits stemming from the blast, including all those that involved deaths. Hundreds of lawsuits remain pending. The company set aside $1.6 billion to resolve that litigation. The $50 million fine is for violations of the federal Clean Air Act. The paper reported that the explosion occurred

…when a tower in a unit that boosts octane in gasoline overfilled with hydrocarbons that flowed to an aging vent stack. The stack spewed flammable liquid, which fell to the ground and formed a vapor cloud that ignited…