Three US govt agencies probing BP’s Alaskan operations

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Three US government agencies are probing BP after the British energy giant partially shut down a giant Alaskan oil field due to a leaking pipeline, an official said.

“The Department of Transportation, the
Department of Justice and EPA … have confirmed that we are involved in an investigation of the company up there in Alaska,” a spokesman for the US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said.

State agencies are also probing BP’s operations and senior Washington lawmakers have called for congressional hearings into its management of Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay oil field, which accounts for 8.0 percent of total US oil output.

“What we have confirmed is that we are part of this investigation, but we can neither confirm nor deny any specifics about any investigation that is underway,” the EPA spokesman said.

AFP