BP to Pay Record $50.6 Million Fine Over Texas Refinery

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: August 12, 2010

In addition to the record fine, BP has agreed to take immediate steps to protect those now working at the refinery and spend at least $500 million on that effort, according to the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Last October, OSHA proposed fining BP $87 million, later reduced slightly, after it found that the company had failed to correct problems at the Texas City refinery under a previous settlement. That settlement with the safety agency followed an explosion in 2005 that killed 15 workers and injured more than 170 people.

BP had disputed most of the 2009 findings. But under the agreement announced Thursday, the company accepted the government’s penalties for failing to fix problems as promised in the previous settlement.

BP is continuing to contest $30.7 million in proposed penalties for the 439 new safety violations that OSHA inspectors found in 2009. The company said in a statement that it hoped the agreement would provide a “platform to resolve the remaining citations.â€