Judge approves Transocean's $1B Gulf oil spill civil settlement
Ships work near the site of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill on August 3, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. BP is to begin plugging the damaged oil well today with a 'static kill', by pumping mud into it.
Photographer: (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Copyright Getty Images
Posted: 02/19/2013
NEW ORLEANS - A federal judge has approved Transocean Ltd.'s agreement with the Justice Department to pay $1 billion in civil penalties for its role in the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said in his ruling Tuesday that he found "no just reason for delay" in approving the civil settlement.
Last week, a different judge approved Transocean's criminal settlement with the federal government. The company pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and will pay an additional $400 million in criminal penalties.
Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which exploded and sank over BP's Macondo well in April 2010. The accident killed 11 rig workers and spawned the nation's worst offshore oil spill.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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