U.S. looks to lay first charges in BP oil spill

American prosecutors are preparing a case for the first criminal charges against BP for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 people and contaminated the ocean with over 200 million gallons of oil.

The explosion and leak, which occurred in April 2010 and continued gushing for three months until finally capped in July, is being called the worst maritime environmental disaster in American History.

According to the Wall Street Journal, prosecutors are focusing primarily on several of BP's engineers and at least one of their supervisors. The allegations from US officials are that the engineers provided false information to environmental regulators pertaining to the risks of oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

If convicted, the charge of falsified information could carry a fine and up to five years in prison. The investigation is still ongoing, and the first trial on assigning blame for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is expected to take place sometime in February of 2012.

Scott Dean, the spokesperson of BP refused to comment on the pending legal action. However, BP has accused Haliburton, the second largest Oil Services Corporation and a contributor to the oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, of destroying evidence which would have shown the company's responsibility in the disaster.

Haliburton, a company that has had an unsavoury record in terms of corporate responsibility, was reported to be jointly at fault for the oil spill by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. The report stated that Haliburton contractors had cemented the oil well improperly, 20 hours before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded.

Along with the criminal charges, BP, Haliburton and Transocean, the official owner of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, are all facing hundreds of civil lawsuits from businesses and coastal property owners who have been affected by the disaster.

 In November of 2011, the three companies at fault filed motions in federal court in New Orleans seeking to keep certain government oil spill reports out of the civil case. BP also wants a judge to bar plaintiffs' lawyers from using past criminal, civil and regulatory proceedings against the British firm in the civil case.

 Massachusetts Congressperson Edward Markey, a ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, scolded the companies for making the request.

"Whether it's Congress or courtrooms, these companies are trying to whitewash away this dark period in our nation's environmental history," said Markey in a press release to the Huffington Post.

The Oil Spill cost BP at least $41 billion to clean up and repair the environmental damage. That included a $20 billion fund going to those affected by the disaster.