Replies to post #321372 on $Stock*Shop*Charts*News*Option$

[Stock Lobster]

WSJ: BP Risks Big Fines and Loss of Major U.S. Contracts

MAY 28, 2010
By NEIL KING JR. And MELANIE TROTTMAN

BP PLC could face heavy fines and threats to its lucrative business relations with the U.S. government in the fallout from the Gulf oil spill.

White House lawyers are beginning to wrestle with whether BP's actions leading up to the disaster warrant barring the company from future federal contracts or oil leases, a process called debarment.

BP is the single biggest supplier of fuel to the Department of Defense, with Pentagon contracts worth $2.2 billion a year, according to government records. BP is also the largest producer of oil on federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, which makes it a significant contributor of revenue to the government.

Separately, the government's new estimate Thursday that oil is flowing from BP's damaged Gulf of Mexico well at a rate of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico —far higher than the previous government estimate of 5,000 barrels a day—could expose the London-based oil giant to heavier fines under the U.S. Clean Water act.

Under the act, the Environmental Protection Agency could seek civil penalties of up to $32,500 per violation each day, or $1,100 per barrel spilled if there is no gross negligence found. If there is gross negligence, the agency could seek fines of up to $4,300 per barrel, which could total $51.6 million a day using the lower 12,000—barrel estimate.

The government could also seek criminal penalties, which could be up to twice the price-tag put on any losses associated with the damage and cleanup costs, said David Uhlmann, a University of Michigan law professor who served as chief of the environmental crime section of the Justice Department from 2000 to 2007. These penalties would be beyond BP's own damage and costs, estimated to be in the billions of dollars.

BP spokesman David Nicholas declined to comment on the potential for any government-imposed penalties. "The immediate focus is on stopping the oil spill and getting the situation under control. The investigation, deliberations and outcomes will happen in due course," he said.

Federal officials say no formal inquiry to bar BP from federal contracts has begun. A Justice Department spokesman said it is too early to discuss potential enforcement actions under the Clean Water act.

But U.S. officials say the Justice Department, the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and other key agencies are sharing information on the Gulf spill, including evidence that could become part of a debarment investigation.

"We are monitoring the situation in the Gulf and will take appropriate action as needed," said one U.S. official.

Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich said in a letter sent to eight senators Wednesday that a team of Justice lawyers was now "examining a full range of affirmative legal options that may be available to the United States." The team, he said, was "providing daily legal advice" across the government.

The EPA has already barred BP's Texas City oil refinery from receiving federal contracts after BP was convicted in 2009 stemming from a 2005 explosion there. A BP facility in Alaska also was suspended from receiving federal contracts after it was convicted in 2007 on a misdemeanor charge stemming from a large oil leak from a pipeline there a year earlier.

The EPA was in negotiations with BP lawyers over those actions until late last week. The EPA said in a statement Wednesday that it had suspended those talks "pending the receipt of information from ongoing federal investigations into the oil spill."

"This may very well be the largest debarment case ever faced by the government, and with the largest consequences," said Robert Meunier, who directed the EPA's debarment office for years until 2008.

Cutting BP off from future government contracts, though, would be an unprecedented and highly complicated move, lawyers say.

BP supplies the military with nearly 12% of its fuel needs, making it the Pentagon's largest fuel supplier, with Royal Dutch Shell coming in a close second, according to the Defense Logistics Agency.

"It is not hard to block a debarment if an argument exists that it would harm the government, especially on national security grounds," said Robert Burton, a Washington lawyer who worked as the Bush administration's top procurement official.

Whether the Interior Department will eventually move to restrain BP's activities in the Gulf will hinge largely on any steps the Justice Department might take, U.S. officials say.

"Nothing is off the table," said one U.S. official. "But this is all just getting started."

Write to Neil King Jr. at [e-mail] and Melanie Trottman at [e-mail]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703630304575270822261954614.html

[4Kismet]

I read a blog Day #2 of the oil spill that said a nuke was going to be the only way to seal the "leak". Praying it doesn't make matters worse, if it's possible.

[4Kismet]

Hopi End Times Prophecy

"This is the First Sign: We are told of the coming of the white-skinned men, like Pahana, but not living like Pahana
men who took the land that was not theirs. And men who struck their enemies with thunder.

"This is the Second Sign: Our lands will see the coming of spinning wheels filled with voices. In his youth, my father saw this prophecy come true with his eyes -- the white men bringing their families in wagons across the prairies."

"This is the Third Sign: A strange beast like a buffalo but with great long horns, will overrun the land in large numbers. These White Feather saw with his eyes -- the coming of the white men's cattle."

"This is the Fourth Sign: The land will be crossed by snakes of iron."

"This is the Fifth Sign: The land shall be criss-crossed by a giant spider's web."

"This is the Sixth sign: The land shall be criss-crossed with rivers of stone that make pictures in the sun."

"This is the Seventh Sign: You will hear of the sea turning black, and many living things dying because of it."

"This is the Eight Sign: You will see many youth, who wear their hair long like my people, come and join the tribal nations, to learn their ways and wisdom.

"And this is the Ninth and Last Sign: You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of my people will cease.