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With the failure to meet certain profit forecasts and the shame of the Oil Spill in the Gulf still plainly in the rearview mirror, no news would be good news right now for the BP Oil Company. As of April 20, 2013, BP share prices remained down almost 30% from pre-spill levels. Since the spill, BP has spent millions in public relations to bolster its tarnished image. “Not so fast,” according to Ring of Fire Radio, hosted by Mike Papantonio and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., known for its hard-hitting political content. Ring of Fire Radio is reminding everyone of the sordid history of criminal conduct by BP Oil Company.

Papantonio explains, “You would not believe the kind of advertising BP has been running down here on the Gulf Coast. First, they tell everyone they will “make it right,” but now they want to weasel out of paying what they agreed to pay for the oil spill, so they are running ads urging people to turn in their friends and neighbors if they made a “fraudulent” BP Oil Spill claim. I don’t think people will fall for this scare tactic when we point out what a repeat felon this corporation has been.”

Among the wrongdoing pointed out by Ring of Fire to various radio, TV and media outlets are the following points of fact about BP Oil:

  • September, 1999: Dumped hazardous waste in Alaska, $22 million in fines and penalties.
  • May-June, 2000: Grangemouth, Scotland in which three separate incidents resulted in two criminal charges. BP pled guilty and was fined £1 million (pounds).
  • March, 2005: Texas City Refinery Explosion, 15 deaths, 180 injured, and pled guilty to felony violations.
  • 2005: BP pays $60 million in California Air Pollution violations.
  • March, 2006: BP pipeline corrodes and dumps largest spill ever on Alaska’s North Slope.
  • April, 2006: BP fined for unsafe conditions at Oregon-Ohio Refinery
  • 2007-2010: BP refineries in Texas and others accounted for 97% of all Petroleum Industry OSHA violations (760 BP violations). BP was cited for “egregious, willful” misconduct.
  • In 2007 BP paid $300 million in fines and penalties relating to an illegal price fixing scheme.
  • October, 2009: 270 safety violations, paid fines and penalties, and pled guilty to felony violations.
  • April, 2010: Deepwater Horizon Semi-submersible explodes, kills 11 people, injures 16, and is the largest spill in the history of the Petroleum Industry.
  • December, 2012: BP pleads guilty to 11 counts of felony manslaughter (Misconduct or Neglect of Ship Officers), 2 misdemeanors, 1 count of perjury in lying to Congress and is forced to pay $4.5 billion in criminal fines and penalties.

With this record, the estimated $500M BP has spent on public relations may not be enough.

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