"BP Settles Spill Containment Violations"

"ANCHORAGE -- An oil field review starting with a state inspector questioning the size of spill containment facilities on Alaska's North Slope has resulted in a hefty civil payment for a subsidiary of BP PLC.

BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. has paid the state more than $1.7 million for operating storage tanks and truck-loading facilities without large enough secondary spill containment, the earthworks and layers of impermeable material that keep spilled crude or refined oil from seeping into the ground. ...

The settlement is not connected to BP's 200,000-gallon spill in March 2006, for which BP America paid $20 million and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the federal Clean Water Act."

Dan Joling reports for the Associated Press September 23, 2009.

See Also:

"OSHA Questions BP Safety" (Houston Chronicle)