Oregon A.G. to Take on BP Over Gulf Spill | The Source Weekly - Bend

Oregon A.G. to Take on BP Over Gulf Spill

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger isn’t running for re-election, but he apparently isn’t leaving in bullets in the chamber  before he exits as the state’s top cop. On Friday, Kroger announced that he is going after petroleum giant BP for its role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster off the Gulf Coast, which Kroger’s says cost Oregon public employees about $19 million in lost retirement funds because BP misrepresented its safety standards to shareholders including the Oregon Public Employee Retirement Fund.

The deadly oil platform explosion killed 11 members of the drilling team and set of a months-long scramble to cap the gushing wellhead.

Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler joined Kroger in filing the suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court. The lawsuit was filed on  Thursday, a day before the two-year anniversary of the disaster.

“The BP disaster ravaged the environment and it also damaged Oregonians who were led to believe the company was prepared for the worst-case scenario,” said Treasurer Wheeler, who is a member of the Oregon Investment Council. “Companies that engage in high-risk activities have an obligation to shareholders and to the public to have appropriate risk-mitigation plans in place, and then to follow them.”