{"id":32339,"date":"2013-07-29T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2013-07-29T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=32339"},"modified":"2015-05-06T09:00:02","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T08:00:02","slug":"halliburton-destroying-gulf-spill-evidence-a-misdemeanor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2013\/07\/halliburton-destroying-gulf-spill-evidence-a-misdemeanor\/","title":{"rendered":"Halliburton Destroying Gulf Spill Evidence a \u2018Misdemeanor\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2010 BP Oil Spill<\/a> is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. It spilled approximately 210,000,000 U.S. gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and the initial explosion, caused by faulty cementing around the injection well, killed 11 workers.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Platform<\/a>

Platform supply vessels battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. Multiple Coast Guard helicopters, planes and cutters responded to rescue the Deepwater Horizon\u2019s 126 person crew. Eleven workers were killed in the explosion. Photo credit: U.S. Coast Guard \u2013 April 20, 2010.<\/p><\/div>\n

During an internal probe into the this cementing after the blowout, Halliburton<\/a> ordered workers to destroy computer simulations relating to safety measures. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that Halliburton has agreed to plead guilty<\/a> to the destruction of this evidence.<\/p>\n

This charge\u2014knowingly destroying evidence during a government investigation in an attempt to cover up the cause of 11 human deaths and one of the largest disasters in the country\u2019s history\u2014is considered a \u201cmisdemeanor\u201d charge. Halliburton is required to pay a $200,000 fine.<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/a>

Tim Probert (right) of Halliburton is sworn in along with officials from BP and Transocean before May 11 Senate hearings on the Gulf oil spill. Photo credit: Tim Sloan\/AFP\/Newscom.<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2011, Halliburton Co. took in $24.8 billion in revenue<\/a>\u2014that\u2019s roughly $67.9 million per day, or $2.8 million per hour, or $47,000 per minute. In four and a half minutes they made enough to pay the total fines for destroying evidence of their criminal negligence.<\/p>\n

Halliburton has also agreed to make a $55 million donation to the Fish and Wildlife Service, presumably as a sign of good faith. Though this may make it easier for politicians to claim that the world\u2019s second-largest oilfield services company\u2014a company that made $39.5 billion dollars on the Iraq War<\/a>\u2014cares about you, Halliburton clearly had their own interests in mind. On page five of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service\u2019s \u201cVision for a Healthy Gulf of Mexico Watershed,\u201d the Fish and Wildlife Service refers to wild animals as \u201cresources\u201d and makes it clear that they are more interested in economy than ecology:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe natural resources in the five Gulf states are the foundation of a multibillion dollar economic engine that employs more than 8 million people, produces more than half of America\u2019s crude oil and natural gas, and accounts for the majority of the nation\u2019s annual shrimp and oyster harvest. Hunting, fishing, bird-watching and other wildlife-dependent recreation contributes more than $25 billion annually to the region\u2019s economy \u2026 Over the last century, climate change, sea level rise, habitat conversion and fragmentation, decreasing water quality and quantity and invasive species have diminished the resiliency of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem \u2026 Natural disasters like hurricanes and man-made disasters like oil spills exacerbate these impacts. As a result, native fish and wildlife populations and their habitats are in decline, imperiling the very fabric that supports the Gulf Coast\u2019s vibrant economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who previously served as the CEO of Halliburton, once said<\/a> \u201cWe have to make America the best place in the world to do business.\u201d I\u2019m sure Halliburton, BP, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Justice can all agree on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visit EcoWatch\u2019s GULF OIL SPILL<\/a> pages for more related news on this topic.<\/b><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ecowatch.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This charge – knowingly destroying evidence during a government investigation in an attempt to cover up the cause of 11 human deaths and one of the largest disasters in the country’s history – is considered a ‘misdemeanor’ charge. Halliburton is required to pay a $200,000 fine.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-justice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}