Halliburton, the company that was directly responsible for the horrific Gulf oil spill disaster, has admitted to destroying evidence that indicated the methods it employed to ensure that the BP rig was sealed were not proper. It is ridiculous that they pay a piddling fine of $200,00, yet no one at Halliburton is indicted on criminal charges for destroying evidence. Amazing.
Halliburton admits to deleting oil-spill evidence
new
By Tom Fowler
Halliburton Co. will plead guilty to destroying evidence in the wake of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The government said Thursday that the company, a contractor involved in
drilling the oil well that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, destroyed
computer simulations it performed in the months after the accident.
BP had hired Halliburton to manage the process in which cement is used
to seal pipes into place in oil and gas wells, preventing dangerous
leaks. Investigators found that natural gas surged up onto the drilling
rig and exploded, killing 11 and unleashing the worst offshore oil spill
in U.S. history.
Government investigators warned companies involved in drilling the well
to preserve all evidence related to the accident. But a Halliburton
supervisor told engineers who conducted the simulations to delete the
data, according to a filling in Federal District Court in New Orleans.
In addition to pleading guilty to one count of destruction of evidence
and paying a $200,000 fine, Halliburton will donate $55 million to the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the government said.
Halliburton said in a statement that the plea agreement ends the
criminal investigation of the company related to the accident and that
it will to continue to cooperate with the Department of Justice in any
ongoing investigations.
Alison Sider contributed to this report.
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