EPA bans BP from federal contracts, citing 'lack of business integrity'

The action by the Environmental Protection Administration bars?BP?and its affiliates from new government contracts for an indefinite period, but won't affect existing contracts.

By Josh Lederman,?Associated Press / November 28, 2012

In this 2010 photo, a group called 'Seize BP' holds up an anti-BP sign in front of the White House, in Washington. The Obama administration put a temporary stop to new federal contracts with British oil company BP on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, citing the company's 'lack of business integrity' and criminal proceedings stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.

Drew Angerer/AP/File

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The Obama administration put a temporary stop to new?federal?contracts with British oil company?BP?on Wednesday, citing the company's "lack of business integrity" and criminal proceedings stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.

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The action by the Environmental Protection Administration bars?BP?and its affiliates from new government contracts for an indefinite period, but won't affect existing contracts.

In a further blow to the company,?BP?will be disqualified from winning new leases to drill for oil or gas on taxpayer-owned land until the suspension is lifted. The?federal?government planned a sale Wednesday of more than 20 million acres of offshore land in the Gulf of Mexico.?BP?won't be eligible for that sale, the Interior Department said. An EPA official said?BP?was not informed about the suspension until Wednesday morning.

In London,?BP?said it had no immediate comment on the decision or its?federal?contracts, but expected to make a statement later Wednesday.

In the past,?BP?has been a major supplier of energy to the U.S. military, and has also provided fuel products and drilling services for other U.S. agencies such as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The EPA said the suspension was standard practice when a criminal case raises responsibility questions about a company. The suspension came the same day two?BP?rig supervisors and a former executive were scheduled to be arraigned on criminal charges stemming from the deadly explosion and the company's response to the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"EPA is taking this action due to BP's lack of business integrity as demonstrated by the company's conduct with regard to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, explosion, oil spill, and response," the agency said in a statement.

BP?announced earlier in November that it will plead guilty to manslaughter, obstruction of Congress and other charges and will pay a record $4.5 billion in penalties to resolve a Justice Department investigation of the disaster. Attorneys and a?federal?judge will meet in December to discuss a plea date.

"When someone recklessly crashes a car, their license and keys are taken away," said Rep. Ed Markey, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee and a frequent critic of?BP. "The wreckage of BP's recklessness is still sitting at the bottom of the ocean," the Massachusetts Democrat said, "and this kind of time out is an appropriate element of the suite of criminal, civil and economic punishments that?BP?should pay for their disaster."

When it agreed to the plea deal,?BP?said it hadn't been advised that any?federal?agency intended to suspend it. However, an EPA official said Wednesday that the plea agreement includes a provision for how?BP?can satisfy the concerns that stand in the way of the suspension being lifted. That order, if the court accepts it during sentencing, would give?BP?60 days to address the conditions that led to violations. If the government approves the plan, it becomes part of BP's criminal probation.

But the suspension could still remain in effect while civil claims against?BP?move forward, said the EPA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss terms of the agreement. In addition to the criminal proceedings,?BP?faces huge civil claims covering the billions of dollars in civil penalties the U.S. government and the Gulf states are seeking from it because of environmental damage.

A trial is scheduled for early next year. Attorney General Eric Holder and the states have vowed to press their case and?BP?has vowed to fight it. However, negotiations have been under way in an effort to reach a settlement. At the time of the criminal settlement, Holder said the government intended to show in the upcoming civil case that?BP?was grossly negligent in causing the spill.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/yOPYIoWBICM/EPA-bans-BP-from-federal-contracts-citing-lack-of-business-integrity

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