Look for an aggressive, visible criminal investigation of BP, Transocean and Halliburton after the Gulf gusher is capped. That doesn’t necessarily mean jail time. But companies are assessed huge fines for much lesser environmental violations. Two years after the Valdez spill, the EPA announced Exxon would pay a record $1 billion in criminal fines and civil damages. Attorney General Eric Holder asked the U.S. attorneys in the Gulf states to assess the damage for possible civil or criminal prosecutions. Holder told ABC’s “This Week” on May 9 that he “sent down representatives from the Justice Department to examine … whether or not there has been misfeasance, malfeasance.” They included assistant attorney generals for the Civil Division and Environment and Natural Resources Division.
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