While some people complain about government regulations, it’s good
public policy that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is temporarily
suspending BP from new contracts with the federal government.
“The EPA is taking this action due to BP’s lack of business integrity as
demonstrated by the company's conduct with regard to the Deepwater Horizon
blowout, explosion, oil spill, and response, as reflected by the filing of a
criminal information,” the agency said in a statement.
On Nov. 15, BP plead guilty to more than a dozen felony counts related
to Deepwater Horizon, including 11 counts of manslaughter for negligence that
caused the deaths of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon rig. The company also
pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of justice for lying to Congress about the
amount of oil spilled from its damaged well.
Suspensions are a standard practice when a responsibility question is
raised by action in a criminal case, the EPA said.
The BP suspension will temporarily prevent the company and its
affiliates from getting new federal government contracts or grants until the
company can provide sufficient evidence demonstrating that it meets federal
business standards.
The suspension doesn’t affect existing agreements BP may have with the
government.
