EPA v. BP Exploration & Production Inc. (Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill) (National Case) (Lead)

Case summary

In June 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana entered a Consent Decree between the United States and MOEX Offshore, to settle MOEX's Clean Water Act liability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. MOEX Offshore has agreed to settle its liability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in a settlement with the United States valued at $90 million. Approximately $45 million of the $90 million settlement is going directly to the Gulf in the form of penalties or expedited environmental projects. According to the terms of the settlement, MOEX will pay $70 million in civil penalties to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act resulting from the spill and agreed to spend $20 million to facilitate land acquisition projects in several Gulf states that will preserve and protect in perpetuity habitat and resources important to water quality and other environmental features of the Gulf of Mexico region. In January 2013, the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana entered a Consent Decree between the United States and Transocean Deepwater Inc. and Triton Asset Leasing GMBH, which has agreed to pay $1 billion to resolve federal Clean Water Act civil penalty claims for the massive, three-month-long oil spill at the Macondo Well and the Transocean drilling rig Deepwater Horizon. Under the civil settlement, the Transocean defendants also must implement court-enforceable measures to improve the operational safety and emergency response capabilities at all their drilling rigs working in waters of the United States. In November 2015, the U.S. District Court in Eastern District of Louisiana entered a Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law Penalty Phase document finding Anadarko is liable for civil penalties under the Clean Water Act, in the amount of $159,500,000. In April 2016, the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana entered a Consent Decree between the United States and BP Exploration & Productions Inc. (BPXP) which BPXP agreed to a pay a penalty of $5.5 billion, as civil penalty under the Clean Water Act. BP must also pay $8.1 billion in natural resource damages (NRD), including $350 million in NRD assessment costs. Note: No environmental benefits were calculated for this case because the injunctive relief related to the DWH spill was obtained through the plea agreement reached in the associated BP DWH criminal case (and therefore are not reportable for this case) and the benefits associated with expenditure of the Natural Resource Damages funds are not yet calculable.

Defendants (10)

• BP Exploration & Production Inc.Named in complaintNamed in settlement
• Triton Asset Leasing GMBHNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc.Named in complaintNamed in settlement
• Transocean Holdings LLC.Named in complaintNamed in settlement
• Transocean Deepwater Inc.Named in complaintNamed in settlement
• QBE Underwriting LTD.Named in complaintNamed in settlement
• Moex Offshore 2007 LLCNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• Lloyd's Syndicate 1036Named in complaintNamed in settlement
• Anadarko Petroleum CorporationNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• Anadarko Exploration & Production LPNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (2)

• BP EXPLORATION&PRODUCTION, INC

  501 WESTLAKE PARK BLVD., HOUSTON, TX, 77079

  Registry ID: 110063982347

• BP EXPLORATION & OIL INC. (GMG290110)

  GULF OF MEXICO, GULF OF MEXICO, TX, 99999

  Registry ID: 110015755672

Statutes cited

• CWA 311B — Oil & Hazardous Substances Discharge

Enforcement conclusions (4)

• BP Exploration & Production Inc. (Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill) (National Case) (Lead)entered 2015-11-30

  Primary law: CWA

  Federal penalty: $79,750,000

• BP Exploration & Production Inc. (Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill - Transocean) (National Case) (Lead)entered 2013-02-19

  Primary law: CWA

  Federal penalty: $500,000,000

• BP Exploration & Production Inc. (Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill MOEX) (National Case) (Lead)entered 2012-06-18

  Primary law: CWA

  Federal penalty: $22,500,000 · State/local: $10,000,000 · SEP: $10,000,000

• BP Exploration & Production Inc. (Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill) (National Case) (Lead)entered 2016-04-04

  Primary law: CWA

  Federal penalty: $2,750,000,000

Timeline (5 milestones)

• 2010-08-04Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2010-12-15Complaint Filed With Court
• 2011-08-24Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2015-11-30Final Order Lodged
• 2016-04-04Final Order Entered