Ride the Lightning

Halliburton to Plead Guilty to Spoliation in Oil Spill Case

July 29, 2013

Bloomberg reported last Thursday that a unit of Halliburton has admitted to destroying evidence connected to the exploded oil well responsible for the 2010 Gulf oil spill.The Department of Justice said that Halliburton conducted and then destroyed the results of two computer simulations of the Macondo well cement job. The company sought to determine whether the number of cement stabilizers used in the well was responsible for the explosion that sent almost 5 billion barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Halliburton had advised that 21 of those “centralizers” be used in the well, but BP used just six. The company hoped to show that BP was therefore at fault for using fewer stabilizers than necessary, and destroyed the computer simulations when they showed that the extra stabilizers would not have made a difference. Inconvenient truths – trash 'em.

In addition to pleading guilty, Halliburton also agreed to pay the minimum $200,000 fine, accept a three-year probation term and cooperate in the ongoing criminal investigation into the spill. The company also made a $55 million “voluntary contribution” to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Oh yeah, voluntary. I believe that.

In light of the guilty plea, the DOJ will not pursue any further criminal charges against Halliburton or its subsidiaries. 50 lashes with a wet noodle and Halliburton skates – lashes gladly accepted, I am sure.