"NEW ORLEANS -- Two companies involved in the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest in U.S. history, have attempted to withhold evidence from investigating authorities, but one must now produce the documents sought, and the other is being penalized for destroying a separate set of evidentiary facts."
"Transocean Deepwater Drilling, Inc., owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded, burned and sank in the Gulf April 20-22, 2010, must now obey a court order to turn over documents subpoenaed by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. This federal government agency conducts root cause investigations of chemical accidents and makes recommendations to prevent future incidents.
On Wednesday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant Transocean a stay of a lower court order that the company promptly turn over the documents at issue. In its ruling, the court said, 'The injury to the public is compounded by the great amount of time it has taken to secure enforcement of the CSB’s subpoenas. Transocean has resisted the subpoenas for 31 months, of which 21 were consumed by litigation.'"
Environment News Service had the story July 26, 2013.
SEE ALSO:
"Did Halliburton Cut a Good Deal With Justice?" (Washington Post)
