3 BP Employees Arraigned in Deepwater Horizon Case

Two BP rig supervisors and a former BP executive are scheduled to be arraigned today on criminal charges stemming from the infamous Deepwater Horizon explosion and the oil giant’s response to the massive 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill.

Well site leaders, Donald Vidrine and Robert Kaluza, were recently indicted on manslaughter charges in the death of 11 rig workers. The federal indictment accuses them of ignoring abnormal high-pressure readings that should have been obvious indications of trouble just before the blowout of BP’s Macondo well, reports the Washington Post.

David Rainey was charged separately with hiding information from Congress about the amount of oil that was leaking from the well. Defense attorneys for the BP employees will continue to adamantly fight the charges.

Yesterday, a BP lawyer entered a not-guilty plea for the company as it was arraigned on related criminal charges. The plea in federal court was a routine move, allowing the company to plead guilty at a later date. BP attorneys and the U.S. Justice Department are scheduled to meet with a federal judge on December 11 to discuss a date for pleading guilty.

The bodies of 11 workers were never recovered from the blast that led to the nation’s worst offshore oil disaster.

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