pbs高端访谈:英国石油公司将支付美国历史上最高罚金

 　　JEFFREY BROWN:And we turn to a major development in a story that grabbed the nation's attention for months in 2010, as oil giant BP reached a settlement today in one part of its ongoing¹ dispute with the federal government over the GulfCoast spill.

　　It's been 2.5 years since the record oil spill that fouled³ the Gulf² of Mexico for months and soiled miles of marshes⁴ and beaches. Today, BP agreed to pay $4.5 billion in a settlement of criminal charges brought by the U.S. government.

　　U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder⁵ announced the deal in New Orleans.

　　ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER: I hope that this sends a clear message to those who would engage in this kind of reckless and wanton conduct that there will be a significant penalty to pay and that individuals in companies who are engaged in these kinds of activities will themselves be held responsible. This is simply not a corporate⁶ plea. Individuals—individuals have been charged.

　　3.jpgJEFFREY BROWN:Under the settlement, BP will pay $1.25 billion in fines, the largest criminal penalty in U.S. history.

　　Another $2.4 billion will go for wildlife and coastal⁷ restoration. And the oil company will pay $500 million for misleading investors⁹ by underestimating the size of the spill. BP also agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter charges for the 11 workers who died when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April of 2010.

　　Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer:

　　LANNY BREUER, Department of Justice Criminal Division: Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that the deaths of the 11 men on board the Deepwater Horizon could have been avoided.

　　We hope that today's acknowledgement by BP of its misconduct through its agreement to plead guilty to 11 counts of felony manslaughter brings some measure of justice to the family members of the people who died on the rig.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Breuer said the criminal investigation¹⁰ continues. And two BP well site leaders were indicted¹¹ on charges of negligence¹² leading up to the explosion. A separate indictment¹³ charged BP vice¹⁴ president David Rainey with obstructing¹⁵ Congress and lying about how he calculated the rate of the spill.

　　BP executives didn't appear publicly today, but the company chairman said the settlement was in the best interest of BP and its stockholders.

　　Chief executive Bob Dudley issued a statement, saying: "We apologize for our role in the accident, and as today's resolution with the U.S. government further reflects, we have accepted responsibility for our actions."BP already agreed last March to pay an estimated $7.8 billion for property, economic and medical damages to some 100,000 individuals and businesses. A federal judge is still reviewing that agreement.

　　And the company is facing other civil charges, which Attorney General Holder emphasized today will continue. The largest of those involve violations¹⁶ of the federal Clean Water Act and could end up in fines totaling $21 billion.

　　And, for more, we're joined by John Young, president of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, an area seriously impacted by the spill, and Abrahm Lustgarten, a reporter at ProPublica and author of "Run to Failure: BP and the Making of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster."We asked both the Department of Justice and BP to join us. They declined our invitation.

　　So, John Young, I would like to start with you. An initial reaction to today's settlement?

　　JOHN YOUNG,Jefferson Parish, La.: Well, it's the first major step, and let's not forget the 11 workers who lost their lives and their family members who lost loved ones.

　　But the fact that it's the largest criminal fine in U.S. history I think is appropriate, in light of the fact that the BP oil disaster was the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history.

　　But, again, it's just a first step. There are civil awards and damages that need to be assessed against BP, so that we're made whole down here in Louisiana and in the entire GulfCoast.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:All right, we will come back to that.

　　But let me ask Abrahm Lustgarten about the significant of the criminal indictments¹⁸ in particular of the company, as well as several individuals.

　　ABRAHM LUSTGARTEN, ProPublica: Yes, I mean, I have to agree. I think this is a very significant step.

　　And most significant, in my opinion, is the indictment of three senior BP managers. BP's had a number of accidents in the past. And in both the Gulf disaster and those past accidents, what you hadn't seen until now is an individual held responsible. And that's something that can help create a culture of responsibility and consequence inside the organization.

　　So, without a doubt, today's indictments of those three individuals sends a message, not only to the public, but I think to BP's employees that they are responsible for the decisions that they make in BP's operations around the world.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Let me just stay with you for a moment. How do you see the calculation of the company in this? Because they made clear in their statement that they wanted to end some of the uncertainty¹⁹ surrounding the litigation, but they also said that they intend to continue fighting on some of these -- the other civil charges.

　　ABRAHM LUSTGARTEN:Sure.

　　Well, naturally, BP wanted to put this behind them, and today's settlement is a huge step in that direction. I had heard from sources for a long time that criminal charges, the prosecution²⁰ was held up by BP's desire to reach some kind of global settlement that could essentially²¹ erase²² as many of these issues off the board in one fell swoop²³ as possible.

　　This is something they have done in the past. After they had an oil spill in 2006 in Alaska and a refinery²⁴ explosion in 2005 in Texas City, in which 15 workers died, they saw a global settlement in those cases, announced a major press release that kind of took care of everything all at once. It's the same now.

　　Obviously, there are issues that remain and very costly²⁵ issues, but this is—it seems just, but it's also a huge accomplishment²⁶ for BP today to put this behind it.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:John Young, what is your sense of the company's calculation here? And what has been your dealings, your sense of the company's behavior in the couple years afterwards?

　　JOHN YOUNG:Well, I have been very—we have been very dissatisfied with the company's behavior.

　　BP runs commercials saying they're going to make it right or they have made it right, but they have not done that. We continue to fight with BP. For instance, Hurricane Isaac drew up a lot of oil that's been unaccounted for. And we're now having tar¹⁷ balls on the beaches of Grand Isle⁸ and Elmer's Island. And we're fighting with BP today and we're fighting with the Coast Guard to have the Coast Guard put pressure on BP to do what it's supposed to do under the Clean Water Act and under the NRDA act.

　　So we continue to fight with BP. And I think what the other guests said is, it's going to hold BP accountable. But it is certainly going to send a message, not only to BP, which has a history of this type of reckless and wanton behavior, but also to other corporations.

　　And I think it's important to note, as the assistance U.S. attorney general said in his opening comments, that this action didn't have to happen. But for their reckless and wanton negligence, this action wouldn't have happened. You can have drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and you can have it done in a safe manner, but BP has a history of reckless and wanton actions.

　　And in this is what caused this disaster. And they really have a lot more responsibility as we move forward with the assessment²⁷ of damages in terms of civil liability, not only for individuals, but for governments, for property damage, natural resource damages under NRDA and under the Clean Water through the Restore Act.

　　So this is far from over. It's a significant step. We want to compliment the Department of Justice, but again at the end of the day, this is just one significant step in a series of events that are going to have to come down and hold BP accountable for their actions.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:Well, let me ask Abrahm Lustgarten.

　　Tell us a little bit more about that next big step, especially the potential violations of the Clean Water Act. What has to be proven? What is the state of play on that?

　　ABRAHM LUSTGARTEN:Well, you will see those civil suits go to trial in February of 2013.

　　They have been delayed until now. The federal government and the states are both still suing the company, both for general environmental damages and damages under the Oil Pollution Control Act. One of the stipulations of the Oil Pollution Control Act is that the fine for the amount of oil spilled in the Gulf is dramatically higher if gross negligence has been proven.

　　And I think that that's what happened today. It's not entirely²⁸ clear. But BP would pay as much as $4,300 per barrel of oil spilled. And this is part of what the information delivered to Congress during the spill about the rate of flow was so significant. So, what you will see now is going into this civil settlement.

　　BP again will likely try to obviously settle for as little as they possibly can. They will settle for some amount, I expect, ultimately. It could be as high as $17 billion to $22 billion, depending on the how the calculations are done.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:John, you started to allude²⁹ to it, but I just want to ask you to expand a little bit, to update us on the situation there today. In what ways is your area and areas around you still feeling the lingering effects of all this?

　　JOHN YOUNG:Well, you know, the Louisiana coast is not like the Florida coast, so it's easy to clean up oil and beaches, but we have marshes, wetlands and estuaries³⁰.

　　We have still have a lot of oil in our marshes, wetlands and estuaries. And, again, as I said, we had a U.S. Senate hearing down here about a month-and-a-half ago. And the Coast Guard admitted they can't account for a lot of oil. And that oil has been submerged in the Gulf because of the dispersants that were used. And then when Hurricane Isaac came around, it churned up that.

　　And now we're having oil on our beaches. And BP before Hurricane Isaac was wanting to sign out and say everything was fine. So, certainly, we continue to fight again with BP. We continue to press the Coast Guard to make sure that BP—BP wants to say that their responsibility is over, they want to walk away from this.

　　But it's far from over in terms of not only cleanup, but in terms of assessing what the long-term effects are going to be as a result of this oil disaster and how it's going to affect our GulfCoast.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:And let me ask Mr. Lustgarten briefly³¹ here at the end.

　　There are other companies that were involved from the beginning. Nothing today affects them, right? Where does that stand?

　　ABRAHM LUSTGARTEN:No, nothing that's happened today has changed that interaction.

　　The courts have expressed an opinion so far tentatively that BP is the party that should be held primarily responsible for what happened in the Gulf. There are lawsuits³² against those other companies and disputes between them. They're going to take a long time to iron themselves out in the courts.

　　But I think that today's settlement, combined with the previous opinions expressed by the courts in Louisiana, make it pretty clear that BP is the primary party of responsibility.

　　JEFFREY BROWN:All right, Abrahm Lustgarten, John Young, thank you both.

　　ABRAHM LUSTGARTEN:Thanks.

　　JOHN YOUNG:Thank you very much. Have a good evening.

　　RAY SUAREZ:Find an updated timeline with all of our reporting starting in April 2010. You can still use our widget to calculate how much oil spilled into the Gulf.

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 fouled   

v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏

参考例句：

• Blue suit and reddish-brown socks!He had fouled up again. 蓝衣服和红褐色短袜！他又搞错了。
• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories. 整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。

4 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

8 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

12 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

13 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

14 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

15 obstructing   

阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止

参考例句：

• You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车，你挡住了我家的车道。
• He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。

16 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

17 tar   

n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于

参考例句：

• The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。
• We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。

18 indictments   

n.（制度、社会等的）衰败迹象( indictment的名词复数 )；刑事起诉书；公诉书；控告

参考例句：

• A New York jury brought criminal indictments against the founder of the organization. 纽约的一个陪审团对这个组织的创始人提起了多项刑事诉讼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These two indictments are self-evident and require no elaboration. 这两条意义自明，无须多说。 来自互联网

19 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

20 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

21 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

22 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

23 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。

24 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

25 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

26 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

27 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

28 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

29 allude   

v.提及，暗指

参考例句：

• Many passages in Scripture allude to this concept.圣经中有许多经文间接地提到这样的概念。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles.她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

30 estuaries   

（江河入海的）河口，河口湾( estuary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We also recognize the diversity and complexity of controlling in fluences in estuaries. 我们也认识到在河湾内控制影响的多样性和复杂性。
• Estuaries also contribute to economy through tourism and fishing. 河口还为人类提供了休闲和教育的场所。

31 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

32 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句