Oil 79

U.S. opens criminal probe of oil spill

The Justice Department has opened civil and criminal investigations into the events that led to the continuing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday.

“The first and foremost goal of the entire government is stopping the leak, containing and cleaning up the oil, and helping the people in this region get back on their feet and return to their normal lives,” Holder told a news conference in New Orleans, according to a text of his prepared remarks. “But as we have said all along, we must also ensure that anyone found responsible for this spill is held accountable. That means enforcing the appropriate civil — and if warranted, criminal — authorities to the full extent of the law.”

Holder also suggested that a serious federal investigation was merited into the deaths of workers aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig when an explosion apparently fed by the blowout took place on April 22.

“There is one thing I will not let be forgotten in this incident: In addition to the extensive costs being borne by our environment and by communities along the Gulf Coast, the initial explosion and fire also took the lives of 11 rig workers. Eleven innocent lives lost,” Holder said. “We will prosecute to the full extent any violations of the law.”

Earlier Tuesday, President Barack Obama warned that the federal government would prosecute anyone found to have violated the law in connection with the spill.

“If our laws were broken, leading to this death and destruction, my solemn pledge is that we will bring those responsible to justice on behalf of the victims of this catastrophe and the people of the Gulf region,” Obama said in the Rose Garden after a meeting with the co-chairmen of a commission he named to look into the spill and the future of drilling off U.S. coasts.

The talk of legal action from Obama and Holder came as the White House launched a new offensive Tuesday aimed at convincing Americans that the federal government is responding aggressively to the continuing oil spill in the Gulf.

In his appearance earlier Tuesday, Obama pledged that the blue-ribbon commission, to be headed by former Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and former Environmental Protection Agency chief William Reilly, would get to the bottom of what caused the blowout.

“In doing this work, they have my full support to follow the facts wherever they may lead, without fear or favor. And I am directing them to report back in six months with options for how we can prevent and mitigate the impact of any future spills that result from offshore drilling,” the president said.

The effort to quickly find out what happened and the effort to prosecute any crimes that were committed could be at odds. At least one BP official, rig manager Robert Kaluza, took the Fifth Amendment last week to avoid testifying at a government hearing into the disaster. It’s possible that more rumblings about potential criminal prosecutions could prompt more of those involved to invoke their right to remain silent.

In addition, the commission Obama named lacks subpoena power, though it may be able to get information subpoenaed by other government agencies.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38005.html#ixzz0phHVKXAj