BP subsidiary pleads guilty to Clean Water Act violation in Alaska oil spill News
BP subsidiary pleads guilty to Clean Water Act violation in Alaska oil spill

[JURIST] BP Exploration Alaska (BPXA), a subsidiary of British Petroleum (BP) [corporate website], pleaded guilty Thursday to violating the Clean Water Act [text] in a case stemming from the March 2006 oil spill [JURIST report] at the company's Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska. According to a plea agreement [PDF text] reached last month, BPXA will pay $20 million in fines and restitution for the spill of an estimated 134,000 to 267,000 gallons of crude oil, the largest spill ever in Alaskan history [BBC report].

The agreement was one of three separate claims the BP corporation settled [JURIST report] in October. BP agreed to pay just over $300 million as part of an agreement [CFTC press release] to defer the prosecution of a civil lawsuit [JURIST report] filed by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) [official website] in June 2006 alleging that at least six current and former employees of BP North America violated the Commodity Exchange Act [text] by using BP's dominant market position to manipulate propane prices. BP also agreed to pay $50 million and plead guilty to a one-count felony violation of the Clean Air Act [text] for alleged deficiencies at the company's Texas City refinery which resulted in an explosion that killed 15 people and injured hundreds more in 2005. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.