The environmental liability comes under
what is known as "Strict, joint,and severable" liability. Basically, there is no excuse even if you are following standard industry practices or are in compliance worth regulations. It's a very strong and useful piece of legislation.

I am fairly familiar witht he issues invovled in drilling 5000 feet deep adn also agree that serious problems can happen. In this case however, there is more and more information coming to light that BP and its subcontractors were cutting corners and not following standard safety practices in an area they knew had high pressure issues. This is where the criminal liability comes in under US environmenatl regulations.

I completely agree with your statement about the US energy policy,. It was written by the ex chair of Halliburton and his masters in teh oil industry. Our policies are totally fucked.
(MichaelS wasn't picked again, Thu 17 Jun 2010, 13:27, Reply)