A $4.5 billion settlement between the United States government and BP includes a guilty plea of obstruction by a BP executive for lying to Congress and manipulating documents related to the size of the spill. The BP executive charged with obstruction is David Rainey, who testified at the first closed-door briefing held by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on May 4, 2010. Rep. Markey, who was then the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy and Environment Subcommittee, called this first meeting between Congress and BP, Halliburton and Transocean where employees of those companies disclosed information related to the possible flow rate of the Macondo well, and other details.
“Eleven Americans died. Then BP lied to the American people. And then they tried to cover it up. BP deserves this record-breaking penalty," said Rep. Markey.
“Two years after the worst environmental disaster in America's history ended, oil is still being dredged up by storms and recently leaked from wreckage at the bottom of the Gulf. This settlement may have closed a chapter of this disaster with the government, but we still have a responsibility to monitor the lingering effects from the spill and put in place new laws that reduce the likelihood of such a catastrophe occurring ever again.”
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