July 2015, Vol. 242, No. 7
Web Exclusive
Former BP Cleared of Lying about Oil Spill
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal jury has found a former BP executive not guilty of making false statements to investigators in connection with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Prosecutors said David Rainey, the former vice president of Exploration for the Gulf of Mexico, in the early days of the spill, manipulated calculations to match a far-too-low government estimate of the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. However, defense attorneys said Rainey’s figures were made honestly and that he had no reason to lie.
The jury agreed, and so did the judge.
“I agree with the verdict,” said U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt said as he thanked the jurors.
Eleven rig workers died in the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which resulted in the nation’s worst offshore oil spill. A federal judge overseeing civil litigation in the case ruled this year that roughly 3.19 MMbbls spilled before the damaged well was capped — a rate of more than 36,000 bpd. The government’s initial estimate was about 5,000 bpd.
Rainey also faced a charge of obstructing a congressional investigation but Engelhardt dismissed that charge this week, in part because members of Congress, including Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, could not be subpoenaed to testify.
Rainey was one of a handful of people charged criminally in connection with the disaster.
A former BP engineer, Kurt Mix, was convicted on one of two criminal counts in 2013 after prosecutors said he deleted text messages about the oil flow following the explosion. His conviction was overturned because a jury forewoman tainted deadlocked deliberations by mentioning she had heard something outside the trial that affirmed her view of Mix’s guilt. Prosecutors have asked an appellate court to reinstate the conviction rather than have them try Mix again.
Trial is pending for BP well site leaders Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine, who have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges stemming from the 11 deaths.
Anthony Badalamenti, a former manager for Halliburton Energy Services Inc., BP’s cement contractor on the rig, was sentenced to one year of probation for destroying evidence in the aftermath of the spill.
Comments