The BP oil spill was a tragedy many may not still think about. However, the consequences of the spill are not yet over for neither the environment or the company. Today, BP agreed to pay $12 billion in government and private settlements over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the company could face billions more in fines. The details of the fines can be found in an article on the Bloomberg website.

But what’s most interesting is that fines are not the only thing the company may have to deal with.

Individuals of the company have been charged with serious criminal offences. Three individuals who were in charge of the estimated flow rates of the spill were charged for deliberately low balling the numbers, making the spill seem less damaging. Two of the men were also charged for involuntary manslaughter with relation to the 11 deaths caused by the spill. Many other charges were also laid against several individuals.

The idea of such serious criminal charges coming from your job is an appalling thought to me. Other than a few financial fiascos, I don’t relate crime with business very often. Who knows who might have told the site managers to low ball the numbers? It seems an incredible stretch to charge manslaughter over to an oil spill which is nothing short of a horrible accident. From a law perspective, it will be intriguing to see how this one turns out.