HOUSTON, June 29 - BP Plc's (BP.L) U.S. subsidiary agreed to investigate causes of unauthorized pollution and improve air monitoring at its giant Texas City, Texas, refinery in a deal announced on Monday with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.
The agreement takes the form of an agreed temporary injunction in a lawsuit Abbott filed earlier this month seeking more than $100 million in fines for pollution between 2005 and 2008 at the Texas City refinery, which is the third-largest in the United States.
"Court documents filed by the state indicate that BP Texas City refinery caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of unauthorized pollutant emissions," the attorney general's office said in a statement.
The agreement continues BP's strategy to negotiate settlements to lawsuits involving the Texas City refinery since a March 23, 2005, blast killed 15 workers and injured 180 others at the refinery.
"BP Products North America is working to fully resolve this matter in a way satisfactory to the state and to BP," the company said of Monday's injunction in a statement.
By accepting the injunction, the Texas attorney general does not face a lengthy fight over conditions that could be part of the final resolution to the case.
In agreeing to the injunction, BP did not admit liability for the alleged violations of pollution rules.
Under the injunction, BP will add at least one fenceline pollution monitor, review all pollution releases, carry out root-cause investigations of each release as well as develop a plan to minimize the pollution.
BP set aside more the $2 billion to pay claims in victim lawsuits stemming from the 2005 blast. While trials began in a few of the hundreds of lawsuits, all were settled before a jury rendered a verdict.
The company paid $21.3 million to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for worker safety violations in the blast.
BP agreed earlier this year to pay the federal government $50 million for environmental violations stemming from the 2005 explosion.
The agreement takes the form of an agreed temporary injunction in a lawsuit Abbott filed earlier this month seeking more than $100 million in fines for pollution between 2005 and 2008 at the Texas City refinery, which is the third-largest in the United States.
"Court documents filed by the state indicate that BP Texas City refinery caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of unauthorized pollutant emissions," the attorney general's office said in a statement.
The agreement continues BP's strategy to negotiate settlements to lawsuits involving the Texas City refinery since a March 23, 2005, blast killed 15 workers and injured 180 others at the refinery.
"BP Products North America is working to fully resolve this matter in a way satisfactory to the state and to BP," the company said of Monday's injunction in a statement.
By accepting the injunction, the Texas attorney general does not face a lengthy fight over conditions that could be part of the final resolution to the case.
In agreeing to the injunction, BP did not admit liability for the alleged violations of pollution rules.
Under the injunction, BP will add at least one fenceline pollution monitor, review all pollution releases, carry out root-cause investigations of each release as well as develop a plan to minimize the pollution.
BP set aside more the $2 billion to pay claims in victim lawsuits stemming from the 2005 blast. While trials began in a few of the hundreds of lawsuits, all were settled before a jury rendered a verdict.
The company paid $21.3 million to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for worker safety violations in the blast.
BP agreed earlier this year to pay the federal government $50 million for environmental violations stemming from the 2005 explosion.
