Wyden to BP: No backdoor payments before Gulf Coast disaster is cleaned up
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Jun 15
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Posted in Environment. |
With BP proposing to set up an escrow account to pay billions to company shareholders before the Gulf Coast disaster is cleaned up, Senator Ron Wyden has joined Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Mark Begich (D-AK) in renewing their call for BP to put responsibility before profits. The three are proposing that BP establish a fund to pay for their ongoing liability toward damages from the oil crisis before any payments are issued.
"Until [BP] demonstrates that adequate funds have been set aside to meet its obligations related to the spill, the company should not be transferring funds from its reserves for any other purposes," wrote Senators Wyden, Schumer, and Begich in a letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward, dated June 15, 2010.
"A backdoor payment to shareholders would still drain BP of billions of dollars that may be needed to pay for spill-related damages. This proposal seems like little more than a thinly-veiled attempt to spare BP a public backlash while proceeding with business as usual."
To read the Senators letter and for more information, please click here.
Posted on June 15, 2010 in Environment.
