BP facing criminal investigation over Alaskan oil spill

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article356306.ece
By Saeed Shah
Published: 07 April 2006

BP, the energy giant that trumpets its green credentials, is believed to be under criminal investigation in the US following a massive oil spill in Alaska.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an arm of the US government, is looking into whether BP properly maintained its pipelines in Alaska.

According to one report, the inquiry has been under way for some months, following evidence given by whistle-blowers, but the investigation was widened to include the spill that occurred early last month. Investigators are examining whether BP violated the federal Clean Water Act.

BP is one of the biggest producers in the oil-rich northern state and it operates the largest oil field at Prudhoe Bay. In early March, a badly corroded BP pipeline ruptured on Alaska's North Slope, causing a spill that is thought to have released up to 267,000 gallons, or one million litres.

It is considered the worst oil spillage ever on the North Slope and the second largest crude spill in Alaska - after the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
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this befouled the tundra where the caribou live

Watch us do an amazingly great clean up! More evidence for open drilling on the North Slope! Who needs caribou anyway? It's just more of these tender-hearted environmentalists bitching. Blah Blah Blah.

Thanks for posting.