Was BP's Plea Deal Appropriate ?

In 2005, the BP refinery in Texas City exploded, killing 15 people and injuring 170 others. The Justice Department negotiated a plea deal that resulted in a $50 million fine. That may sound like a lot of money to some, but victim's families point out that federal sentencing guidelines called for a fine between $400 million to $3.2 billion.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is now questioning the appropriateness of the plea deal. They have written a letter to Attorney General Mukasey detailing their concerns and asking to meet with Justice Department officials. They have asked for an answer within 10 days.

The committee has five areas of concern about the plea deal:

- why BP's parent company was excluded from the plea deal and whether parent company executives might have any culpability because of cost cutting measures at the plant.

- whether the "totality of BP's corporate misconduct," the company's history of fines and accidents at other facilities, was fully considered when deciding a criminal penalty.

- why future compliance with the Clean Air Act is not called for in the agreement.

- whether the $50 million fine is sufficient to achieve the goal of deterrence.

- whether prosecutors violated the Crime Victims' Rights Act by not consulting victims about the plea agreement.

After looking at the sentence guidelines and the committee's concerns, it does make the $50 million fine look like a sweetheart deal for the company. The Bush administration does have a history of siding with corporations. Have they once again taken the corporation's side and ignored the victims and the safety of the general public?

It sure looks like it.