BP 'Disappointed' By $87 Million OSHA Fine

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a record $87 million fine against oil giant BP PLC for failing to correct safety hazards after a 2005 explosion killed 15 people at its Texas City refinery.

The fine -- the largest in OSHA's history -- comes after a 6-month inspection revealed hundreds of violations of a 2005 agreement to repair hazards at the refinery.

OSHA also said the company committed hundreds of new violations by failing to follow industry controls on pressure relief safety systems and other precautions.

BP said it believed it was in "full compliance" with the settlement agreement and will work with government officials to resolve the issue.

"We are disappointed that OSHA took this action in advance of the full consideration of the Review Commission," the London-based company said in an emailed statement, referring to an ongoing separate inquiry by a body separate to OSHA.

"While we strongly disagree with their conclusions, we will continue to work with the agency to resolve our differences," the company added.

BP said its efforts to improve process safety performance "have been among the most strenuous and comprehensive that the refining industry has ever seen."

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OUCH! 10/30/2009 11:35:00 AM Man, I'd be "disappointed" in a $87MM OSHA fine, TOO! Well, maybe "disappointed" isn't exactly the word I would use for how I would feel.
Kaching! 10/30/2009 11:48:00 AM I think it's apparent that BP didn't take the previous violations and citations serious. This is a good wake-up call. The statement about being "disappointed" is about the lamest excuse yet. Of course we will end up absorbibg their fine in higher gas prices.
BP screwed up big time 10/30/2009 12:39:00 PM They were told they had safety issues and agreed to fix them. Then they never did. On top of that they went on creating new safety issues. The violations were so blatant that cable TV has run "engineering disaster" shows on the explosion long before the comission issued any report. BP shouldn't be disappointed; they should be replacing their safety people and telling them to get the job done right. And the managers who cut the corners should go to jail for manslaughter. How disappointed will they be then?
Ouch is right! 10/30/2009 1:04:00 PM I work at a BP refinery, and by no means as upper management. I can tell you for a fact that BP did and is taking the lesson from Texas City seriously. But after seeing this money strapped government agency levy a fine like that against the company after all of the effort all of us, from the janitors to the plant manager, have put into making sure something like that can't happen again, it is disheartening at the least. With being part of the overhaul going on at my refinery, there is no way I could ever believe that what OSHA found were deliberate acts. What I do know is it takes a lot of time when you are going through a refinery that's nearly 100 years old to look things over and make sure the safeties being installed/replaced are the right kind in the right place and are connected to the right control sources.
Lost sight of the goal? 11/4/2009 5:18:00 PM After 6 months of cooperation, the EPA calculates BP's "ability to pay" at $87M which comes out of our wallets at the pump. I'm from the government and I'm here to help? We're getting ripped off by these Socialists.

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