Tagged: Deepwater Horizon

The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded off Louisiana’s coast in 2010, unleashing an unmatched oil spill from BP’s Macondo well.

About eight months later, the Justice Department filed suit to recover damages.

BP entered into a $4.5 billion settlement of criminal claims in November.

The owner of the rig, Transocean, has just agreed to plead guilty and pay $1.4 billion in criminal and civil penalties for violating the Clean Water Act. A federal judge is likely to sign off on the agreement at a hearing set for Feb. 14.

Carrie Johnson, NPR’s Justice Correspondent, has been following this case from the beginning.

The Coast Guard has approved plans to investigate another oil sheen spotted near the site of BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The sheen was initially spotted on Nov. 2 in the same area where a discarded steel container leaking oil had been capped and plugged the week before.

When the Deepwater Horizon exploded two years ago, spilling an unprecedented amount of oil into the Gulf, BP hired about 48,000 workers to clean up. Some of those workers have since reported health problems. There's just one clinic in Louisiana now dedicated to treating them. As WRKF's Tegan Wendland reports, the clinic has a rather controversial backer.