"BP Faces $13.7 Billion Fine for Gross Negligence", 19 Feb 2015 [subscription required]

BP PLC could face up to $13.7 billion in civil penalties under the U.S. Clean Water Act for its role in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a federal judge’s ruling on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier of the Eastern District of Louisiana sided with the U.S. Department of Justice that BP’s maximum allowable fine under the Clean Water Act should be $4,300 per barrel—an amount for gross negligence adjusted by the Environmental Protection Agency for inflation…BP spokesman Geoff Morrell wrote in an email that he disagreed with the decision, stating that “neither the EPA nor the Coast Guard has the power to independently inflate the maximum penalty Congress intended.” He continued, “At the very least, fair notice was never provided as to which of those two agencies possessed the authority to inflate the penalty amount.”…[Also refers to Anadarko]