Julia Werdigier of the New York Times reports BP Reported Close to Settlement With U.S. Over Gulf Spill:



“BP confirms that it is in advanced discussions with the United States Department of Justice and the Securities & Exchange Commission regarding proposed resolutions of all US federal government criminal and SEC claims against BP in connection with the Deepwater Horizon incident,” BP said in a statement. Even if BP and the government settled on the criminal claims, BP would still be subject to other claims, including federal civil claims and claims for damages to natural resources. In particular, this settlement, if it is reached, does not include what is potentially the largest penalty: fines under the Clean Water Act. The potential fine for the spill under the Clean Water Act is $1,100 to $4,300 per barrel spilled. That means the fine could be as much as $21 billion, according to Peter Hutton of RBC Capital Markets in London. BP in March agreed with the lawyers for plaintiffs to settle claims on economic loss, including from the local seafood industry, and medical claims stemming from the oil spill. BP said at the time it expected the cost of that settlement to be about $7.8 billion, which it will pay from a trust the company set aside to cover such costs.

Share of BP fell 0.8 percent in this morning's markets.

Let's hope this is a sufficient penalty to cause commercial operators of operations potentially dangerous to the environment and surrounding populations to improve their operations. But, this focus on BP alone is not sufficient. We need to greatly improve government regulations and oversight capability which will require expanding budgets and staffing for government regulatory oversight bodies such as the EPA which were also shown to have fallen short.

Additionally, this incident and the Fukushima disaster illustrate the need for stronger global oversight institutions to protect the interests of all the people in a region. The IAEA was shown to be unable to adequately oversee the complicity of the Japanese government in attempts to manage public relations and cover-up the seriousness of the accidents rather than be primarily focused on global public safety. Who will look out for threats, and damages to those affected outside of the U.S.?

Who is responsible for protecting the interests of all citizens of the world when local governments and industry cut corners on safety, or fail to competently manage highly dangerous nuclear, chemical, or biological hazards that could pose dangers to all citizens of the world across national boundaries, such as is the case with global warming harming our planet's atmosphere? We need to develop stronger global oversight bodies. And, you think right-wing knuckle-dragging successionists are upset now? Soon, they will be looking for other planets to escape collective responsibilities for the common good.

CNN announces the plea deal includes a $4.5 billion settlement with one felony count of obstruction of Congress.

One person is involved with criminal charges for deleting emails. CNN is not certain if this deal absolves the management from criminal charges.

2 misdemeanor counts of violating environmental regulations.

Eric Holder is going to hold a news conference later this afternoon.

HuffPO reports additional late breaking details BP Oil Spill Settlement Announced

