Charges Loom in Deepwater Disaster

Engineers, at least one supervisor under the gun
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 29, 2011 9:40 AM CST
Charges Loom in Deepwater Disaster
In this April 21, 2010 file photo taken in the Gulf of Mexico more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is seen burning.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

US authorities are on the verge of bringing their first criminal charges related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, with several Houston-based engineers and at least one BP supervisor likely facing felonies, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. The men are suspected of providing false information to regulators regarding the risks at the Macondo well, the sources said, though they added that the Justice Department may ultimately let them off the hook, instead using the threat of charges to pressure them into aiding the investigation. (More Deepwater Horizon stories.)

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