BP engineer arrested in Gulf oil spill

What Is BP Up To? – The BP Engineer Knowledgeable of Public Deception Requests Lighter Travel Restrictions and the Presiding Judge Excuses Herself from the Case. Former BP engineer, Kurt Mix, was the first person to be arrested in the oil spill investigation and indicted with criminal charges. Though legal observers call him “a low-level engineer whose only involvement was determining how bad the spill was,” the fact remains that he was one of BP’s employees and was deceptive. Mix was knowledgeable of the accurate information and neglected to honestly inform the public regarding the amount of oil gushing from the well that day. Mix is charged with two counts of obstruction of justice. Rather than informing the public honestly relating to the situation surrounding the oil spill at that time, Mix deleted the hundreds of texts containing vital information about the amount of oil spilled in the Gulf, as well as BP’s resolute and knowledgeable deception of the public and media concerning the spill’s enormity. Though Mix did not have a direct role in causing the well to burst, he is still held accountable for deliberately removing evidence. Federal prosecutors claim that “legal orders seem to be a problem” for the former BP engineer. Mix claims that the deleted texts were not significant in the case. The 200 recovered texts between himself and his supervisor, however, include detailed information about the spill’s flow-rate. Some of the texts prove that BP officials were well aware of the thousands of gallons of oil spewing each day, while they assured the media, the public and government agents that it was nothing more than about 5,000 barrels per day. One text by Mix showed that he was aware of the fact that more oil was leaking than could ever possibly be contained: “Too much flow rate – over 15,000 [barrels] and too large an orifice. Pumped over 12,800 bbl of mud today plus 5 separate bridging pills. Tired. Going home and getting ready for round three tomorrow.” At the same time, Mix was also disclosing the information to an unidentified third party. Now he wishes to them bring forth under protective order, in hopes of showing the public that he was not intentionally destroying evidence. Last week, Mix’s attorney, Joan McPhee, filed a motion requesting the court for his traveling rights. Documents were brought forth to exonerate him from the Federal prosecutors’ claims, and requesting he at least be allowed the right to travel within the United States. Prosecutors, however, argued that Mix “intended to leave the country, go to Australia, never to return,” and consider him nothing short of a flight risk. The day after the documents were filed, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo who was overseeing the case, removed herself from it. She stepped down without informing anyone exactly what her involvement with BP matters or their former engineer was, instead citing a law that any judge may exclude themselves from a legal matter if their “impartiality may be reasonably questioned.” The only time that a judge may step aside is when he/she has some direct or indirect involvement with the parties taking part in the case. The Mix criminal trial has been reassigned to U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval, Jr. The U.S. Justice Department informed the public that the oil spill investigation is still ongoing and that more people who took part in deceiving both communities across the country and the government will be arrested. Kurt Mix is only the first of many to come.