More Issues

9.23.99 – BP pleads guilty to federal charges connected to the illegal dumping of hazardous waste into the ground-water at the Endicott Oil Field. As part of the settlement, BP agrees to pay $22 million in criminal and civil penalties and is put on criminal probation.

7.24.00 – BP launches a new public relations campaign, adopting a green and yellow sun as its logo and introducing a new slogan – ‘beyond petroleum.’ On the same day, BP agrees to pay $10 million in penalties for environmental violations at operations throughout the United States.

4.01 – The Environmental Protection Agency fines BP $412,500 for failing to properly monitor waste discharges from several of its North Slope operations. The fine is reduced to $53,460 because of the company’s voluntary disclosure of Clean Water Act violations.

1.09.02 – BP agrees to replace a faulty valve at a Prudhoe Bay oil well, nearly four years after employees initially requested that the valve be replaced. The oil well valve is used to mitigate possible oil spills.

3.02 – Two veteran BP employees call for federal oversight of North Slope oil operations, alleging several safety and maintenance problems at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, including faulty valves and pipeline corrosion.

6.05.02 – BP receives a $300,000 fine for failing to install an advanced system that would detect pipeline leaks throughout the Prudhoe Bay facility.

8.22.02 – An explosion at a North Slope well pad throws a BP employee 50 feet in the air. The employee suffers severe burns and broken bones.

11.25.02 – BP agrees to pay the State of Alaska $675,000 for costs related to the cleanup of a large Prudhoe Bay pipeline spill.

12.21.02 – A BP employee is killed on the North Slope after a water pipeline burst under extreme pressure.

1.21.03 – Media reports reveal an internal memo sent to North Slope employees by BP Alaska President Steve Marshall warning that BP may halt all Alaska operations if safety problems continue.

4.24.03 – At the annual meeting in London, BP officials cite Alaska safety problems as one of the company’s largest concerns.

5.27.03 – A spill of more than 6,000 gallons is discovered at an underground pipeline near a caribou crossing on the North Slope. BP officials determine the cause of the spill to be pipeline corrosion.

Present Day – The ‘beyond petroleum’ public relations campaign continues to this day, with the following message displayed in large bold letters on BP Alaska’s web site: "no accidents, no harm to people, no damage to the environment"