bp oil disaster

January 29, 2013 - In New Orleans today, a federal judge approved a deal allowing BP to plead guilty to manslaughter and other charges related to the Gulf disaster in exchange for a $4 billion fine, probation and monitoring. Some of the company's victims objected to the deal including Cherri Foytlin, who explained her reasons in this letter to the judge.

January 14, 2013 - The company is seeking to reduce its civil liabilities under the Clean Water Act by excluding the oil it salvaged from the total amount spilled in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Meanwhile, the court has approved a settlement for medical claims related to the spilled oil and dispersants used to break up the slick.

January 4, 2013 - Most of the $1.4 billion in fines and penalties that Transocean has agreed to pay for its negligence in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster will be sent to the Gulf Coast region to fund environmental restoration work.

January 2, 2013 - Speaking today at the N.C. Bankers Association's 2013 Economic Forecast Forum, incoming Republican Gov. Pat McCrory said he would waste no time in joining with Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia to begin negotiating with the federal government to drill offshore for gas and oil.

December 7, 2012 - Two weeks before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, killing 11 workers and spewing millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP was spewing a different kind of pollution -- leading to a $500 billion lawsuit that has received far less attention.

November 29, 2012 - The government's decision to at least temporarily ban BP from federal contracts is a result of not just the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill, but years of safety problems at the oil giant.

November 26, 2012 - The producer of a lighthearted documentary film about a Houma Indian Christmas tradition hopes it will draw attention to the Louisiana tribe's struggle for federal recognition, which has become especially critical in the aftermath of the BP disaster.