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ARTICLE · 22 APRIL 2013

The State Of Environmental Crime Enforcement: A Survey Of Developments In 2012

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The authors of this article, in their latest annual review of environmental crime enforcement, look at the prosecution of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and spill.

United StatesEnvironment
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
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The authors1 of this article, in their latest annual review of environmental crime enforcement, look at the prosecution of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and spill, which resulted in a guilty plea in 2012 by BP Exploration and Production Inc. and the largest environmental penalty in U.S. history. The authors also discuss the importance of corporate Compliance and Ethics programs, the government's ability to assess the adequacy of those programs, and the lessons federal agencies can learn if they tap into their own enforcement experience as they develop regulatory programs.

DEEPWATER HORIZON UPDATE

The Criminal Plea

On November 15, 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that BP Exploration and Production Inc. had agreed to plead guilty to felony manslaughter charges, obstruction of Congress, and misdemeanor environmental violations for the Company's role in the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Similar to other criminal environmental cases, the

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