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Former BP employee indicted for destroying evidence of oil released
Published: Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 11:56 AM Updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 12:25 PM
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
A former BP engineer who assisted in attempts to stop the flow of oil from the company's Macondo well after the Deepwater Horizon explosion was arrested today on charges of intentionally destroying evidence concerning the amount of oil released from the well. Kurt Mix, who resigned from BP plc in January, was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans and unsealed today.
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According to an affidavit filed by FBI Agent Barbara O'Donnell in support of the complaint against Mix, "Mix deleted numerous electronic records relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster response, including records concerning the amount of oil potentially flowing from the well, after being repeatedly informed of his obligation to maintain such records and after it became apparent that his electronic records were to be collected by an outside vendor retained by BP's counsel to collect electronic documents."
Included were were more than 200 text messages that Mix allegedly deleted from his Iphone that were directed to BP's then drilling engineer manager for the Gulf of Mexico and an outside contractor with whom Mix was working on the spill response.
The messages, some of which were recovered during the FBI investigation, included real-time flow-rate analysis during the Top Kill operation that indicated the attempt to stem the flow of oil wasn't working, "contrary to BP's public statements at the time," the affidavit said.
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Published: Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 11:56 AM Updated: Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 12:25 PM
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
A former BP engineer who assisted in attempts to stop the flow of oil from the company's Macondo well after the Deepwater Horizon explosion was arrested today on charges of intentionally destroying evidence concerning the amount of oil released from the well. Kurt Mix, who resigned from BP plc in January, was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans and unsealed today.
...
According to an affidavit filed by FBI Agent Barbara O'Donnell in support of the complaint against Mix, "Mix deleted numerous electronic records relating to the Deepwater Horizon disaster response, including records concerning the amount of oil potentially flowing from the well, after being repeatedly informed of his obligation to maintain such records and after it became apparent that his electronic records were to be collected by an outside vendor retained by BP's counsel to collect electronic documents."
Included were were more than 200 text messages that Mix allegedly deleted from his Iphone that were directed to BP's then drilling engineer manager for the Gulf of Mexico and an outside contractor with whom Mix was working on the spill response.
The messages, some of which were recovered during the FBI investigation, included real-time flow-rate analysis during the Top Kill operation that indicated the attempt to stem the flow of oil wasn't working, "contrary to BP's public statements at the time," the affidavit said.
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