Is BP guilty of Organized Crime?

June 15th, 2010. By LucyC

An interesting lawsuit was filed this week, a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act of 1970) accusing BP of manipulating government agencies during guess who’s administration—yep—that would be George W’s—into relaxing the regulatory oversight of offshore drilling and oil operations in the US. And the resulting lack of oversight is what has led to the environmental disaster playing out in the Gulf of Mexico, its surrounding beaches and wetlands and the economies they collectively stimulate. Not to mention the death of 11 people who worked on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

According to an article on PNJ.com, the lawsuit states, “In the greedy interest of billions of dollars in offshore drilling profits, BP chose to misrepresent its capability to respond and prevent impact to the environment, the public and the plaintiffs, and concealed its incapacity to response.”

Now RICO came about as a means to fight organized crime networks including the mafia. I have to say I find the analogy interesting: in a time when the free market economy has come to stand for everything the West believes is sacred, at what point does the pursuit of bottom line interests cross the line, so to speak? And, if the officials elected to safeguard the systems that enable a free market economy to operate, (albeit in a somewhat utopian way), allow themselves to be manipulated as is implied in this lawsuit—should the participants, including specific members of government, if they were a party to the allegations, also be held accountable? And what about the folks managing the now infamous Mineral Management Service? And for that matter, what about the shareholders? And the public at large? We are part of the bigger picture. 

Let’s just call a spade a spade here, and admit that if this incident hadn’t happened there would be no action or investigation into the way offshore drilling was and is managed. The party would continue. And none of us would be any the wiser or probably that concerned. Were you thinking about the potential environmental impact of offshore drilling when you filled-up three months ago? I know I wasn’t. Now I wake up in the morning and it’s the first thing I think of. And every day it saddens, beyond words, to know that this “ecological armageddon,” as this RICO lawsuit so accurately describes the spill, could have and should have been avoided. 

It was the role of government to ensure that BP played by the rules. But as we have come to learn recently, corporations do not seem that concerned with the rules these days, unless they serve their corporate interests. And increasingly it seems, government has been flexible to the interpretation of ‘the rules.’  The article on PNJ.com references a retreat held in 2000 for government officials, hosted by former Vice President Dick Cheney, with a reported goal of drafting a national energy policy—the “Cheney Energy Task Force” as the meeting is referred to. Not surprisingly, BP was among the attendees at the “Task Force.” 

“Upon information and belief, part of BP’s agenda at the meetings included installing oil industry appointments to MMS and other agencies so that BP could fraudulently cut corners on safeguards for offshore drilling projects,” the lawsuit claims. [pnj.com] And as a consequence, the reduced safety standards that resulted from the meeting, enabled the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig. 

That certainly sounds organized to me. But is it organized crime? I would say it is certainly organized greed, but that’s not illegal. It never has been. 

It will be interesting to see how suit plays out. It is reportedly one of more than 200 lawsuits filed against the oil giant, so to say we’re angry would be an understatement. However,  to say BP was involved in racketeering is new and possibly a bit of a stretch. And, at the end of the day, how does that fix what’s going on in the Gulf?  This disaster follows on the heels of the banking meltdown—also brought about by highly questionable money-making motivations. And what has really changed there? I can only hope that these lawsuits, either independently or collectively, will make a positive difference to the way we run our world.

Tags: BP, BP Oil Spill

This was posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 3:47 pm and is filed under Environment . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.