Corporations Are Not People: Why They Have More Rights Than You Do and What You Can Do About It by Jeffrey D. Clements, Bill Moyers
Authors: Jeffrey D. Clements, Bill Moyers
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Products North America, BP Corporation North America, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP West Coast Products, Standard Oil, BP Amoco Chemical Company, and more.
On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and sank, killing eleven people. The resulting massive oil inundation into the Gulf waters created an environmental and economic catastrophe for people living and working in and along the Gulf. BP has concealed, evaded, or misrepresented the facts about the amount of oil that has poured into the Gulf. Even when scientists implored BP to allow them to monitor the flow of oil that created massive underwater plumes, BP stonewalled: “The answer is no to that. We’re not going to take any extra efforts now to calculate flow there at this point.”
A criminal investigation is under way relating to a whistle-blower disclosure that BP violated the law by not retaining key safety documents about the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. As BP tried to shift the blame and evade accountability, BP’s CEO Tony Hayward whined, “I want my life back.”
BP’s reckless and illegal activity in American waters in the Gulf was only the latest of its crimes. On one day alone in October 2007, BP admitted to a virtual crime spree. First, BP Products North America Inc. pleaded “guilty to a felony” for causing a 2005 refinery explosion in Texas that killed fifteen people. BP admitted, “If our approach to process safety and risk management had been more disciplined and comprehensive, this tragedy could have been prevented.” The criminal plea agreement required BP to pay a fine of $50 million and serve three years of probation.
Second, on the same day, BP admitted that it engaged in criminal conduct that caused “the largest oil spill ever to occur at Prudhoe Bay” in Alaska. As a result, BP Exploration Alaska Inc. pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. BP’s plea agreement required BP to serve three years’ probation and pay a fine of $12 million. BP admitted that its approach to “risk” was “not robust or systematic enough.”
Third, BP also admitted that it engaged in criminal conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud after BP America and several other BP subsidiary corporations “manipulated the price of February 2004 TET physical propane and attempted to manipulate the price of TET propane in April 2003.” As a result of BP’s criminal price manipulation, BP was required to pay $303.5 million in fines, penalties, and restitution. BP admitted that its “view of the legality of these trades changed as our knowledge of the facts surrounding them became more complete.” BP admitted its “failure to adequately oversee our trading operations.”
And these crimes by BP were not the first and not the last. BP’s other recent admissions or convictions of crimes and misdemeanors include the following:
A guilty plea in Alaska related to the illegal disposal of hazardous waste, including paint thinner and toxic solvents containing lead, benzene, toluene, and methylene chloride, on Alaska’s North Slope
$25 million in penalties in California due to “significant and numerous violations” at a BP refinery
$900,000 in penalties after producing and distributing gasoline that threatened public health
$87, 430,000 in proposed penalties to BP Products North America Inc. “for the company’s failure to correct potential hazards faced by employees.” OSHA found that despite the death of 15 people and the injury of 170 in its Texas oil refinery explosion and despite its promises to change its ways, BP continued to commit “hundreds of new violations”
$3 million in additional fines to BP North America when OSHA “found that BP often ignored or severely delayed fixing known hazards in its refineries”
Thirteen “serious safety violations” at a BP refinery near Blaine, Washington. A Washington official stated in 2010 that “we are disturbed that more
On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and sank, killing eleven people. The resulting massive oil inundation into the Gulf waters created an environmental and economic catastrophe for people living and working in and along the Gulf. BP has concealed, evaded, or misrepresented the facts about the amount of oil that has poured into the Gulf. Even when scientists implored BP to allow them to monitor the flow of oil that created massive underwater plumes, BP stonewalled: “The answer is no to that. We’re not going to take any extra efforts now to calculate flow there at this point.”
A criminal investigation is under way relating to a whistle-blower disclosure that BP violated the law by not retaining key safety documents about the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. As BP tried to shift the blame and evade accountability, BP’s CEO Tony Hayward whined, “I want my life back.”
BP’s reckless and illegal activity in American waters in the Gulf was only the latest of its crimes. On one day alone in October 2007, BP admitted to a virtual crime spree. First, BP Products North America Inc. pleaded “guilty to a felony” for causing a 2005 refinery explosion in Texas that killed fifteen people. BP admitted, “If our approach to process safety and risk management had been more disciplined and comprehensive, this tragedy could have been prevented.” The criminal plea agreement required BP to pay a fine of $50 million and serve three years of probation.
Second, on the same day, BP admitted that it engaged in criminal conduct that caused “the largest oil spill ever to occur at Prudhoe Bay” in Alaska. As a result, BP Exploration Alaska Inc. pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. BP’s plea agreement required BP to serve three years’ probation and pay a fine of $12 million. BP admitted that its approach to “risk” was “not robust or systematic enough.”
Third, BP also admitted that it engaged in criminal conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud after BP America and several other BP subsidiary corporations “manipulated the price of February 2004 TET physical propane and attempted to manipulate the price of TET propane in April 2003.” As a result of BP’s criminal price manipulation, BP was required to pay $303.5 million in fines, penalties, and restitution. BP admitted that its “view of the legality of these trades changed as our knowledge of the facts surrounding them became more complete.” BP admitted its “failure to adequately oversee our trading operations.”
And these crimes by BP were not the first and not the last. BP’s other recent admissions or convictions of crimes and misdemeanors include the following:
A guilty plea in Alaska related to the illegal disposal of hazardous waste, including paint thinner and toxic solvents containing lead, benzene, toluene, and methylene chloride, on Alaska’s North Slope
$25 million in penalties in California due to “significant and numerous violations” at a BP refinery
$900,000 in penalties after producing and distributing gasoline that threatened public health
$87, 430,000 in proposed penalties to BP Products North America Inc. “for the company’s failure to correct potential hazards faced by employees.” OSHA found that despite the death of 15 people and the injury of 170 in its Texas oil refinery explosion and despite its promises to change its ways, BP continued to commit “hundreds of new violations”
$3 million in additional fines to BP North America when OSHA “found that BP often ignored or severely delayed fixing known hazards in its refineries”
Thirteen “serious safety violations” at a BP refinery near Blaine, Washington. A Washington official stated in 2010 that “we are disturbed that more
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