BP To Pay $210K Following Spill Response Drills
BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Justice Department says BP Products North America Inc. has agreed to pay $210,000 following surprise inspections at a Baltimore area oil terminal.
The settlement was announced Thursday by the Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Federal officials say BP has also agreed to make changes to its oil spill response program at oil terminals nationwide and undergo a comprehensive compliance audit to resolve alleged violations at its Curtis Bay terminal.
Federal officials say the EPA and Coast Guard conducted two unannounced spill exercises at Curtis Bay. The DOJ says BP failed each time to deploy oil containment booms quickly enough. The department says the Curtis Bay terminal can store about 22 million gallons oil and is less a quarter mile from a Chesapeake Bay tributary.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
