Consequences
BP reported to the media that an estimated volume of around 267,000 US gallons (1,010,000 L) of oil was spilled. Soon after the discovery of the leak, the US Department of Transportation ordered BP to test its pipelines using an internal probe called a smart pig. Some of these lines had not been smart-pigged since 1992. BP came up with an Action Plan which was outlined in a letter sent to Thomas Barrett, administrator for pipeline safety for Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). BP’s Steve Marshall detailed measures for pigging or removing oil residue from the pipeline and for various draining and dismantling procedures.
After the March leak the Transportation Department ordered BP to run smart pig inspections of all the suspect oil lines by June, but the company missed the deadline. More than a month later BP sent a smart pig through its eastern pipelines, detecting extensive corrosion at several places and another small spill. Soon after that BP began temporary production shut down of the eastern side, citing the discovery of "unexpectedly severe corrosion". This reduced the per day production from 400,000 barrels (64,000 m3) to 200,000 barrels (32,000 m3). This amounted to reduction in domestic oil supply by 8% at that time.
In October 2007, BP was fined US$20 million for the Prudhoe Bay oil spills. BP paid a US$12 million federal criminal fine, US$4 million in criminal restitution to the state, and US$4 million for Arctic research. BP's local subsidiary, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., was placed on probation for three years.
Read more about this topic: Prudhoe Bay Oil Spill
Famous quotes containing the word consequences:
“The horror of Gandhi’s murder lies not in the political motives behind it or in its consequences for Indian policy or for the future of non-violence; the horror lies simply in the fact that any man could look into the face of this extraordinary person and deliberately pull a trigger.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“There is a delicate balance of putting yourself last and not being a doormat and thinking of yourself first and not coming off as selfish, arrogant, or bossy. We spend the majority of our lives attempting to perfect this balance. When we are successful, we have many close, healthy relationships. When we are unsuccessful, we suffer the natural consequences of damaged and sometimes broken relationships. Children are just beginning their journey on this important life lesson.”
—Cindy L. Teachey. “Building Lifelong Relationships—School Age Programs at Work,” Child Care Exchange (January 1994)
“Results are what you expect, and consequences are what you get.”
—schoolgirl’s definition, quoted in Ladies’ Home Journal (New York, Jan. 1942)