HOUSTON, TX – The National Fish and Wildlife Federation is $55 million richer today.
That’s because Halliburton Energy Services, a subsidiary of Houston-based Halliburton, cut a deal with the Justice Department in connection with the deadly 2010 Maconda oil well fire and spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest in US history.
Eleven people died.
The company will plead guilty to destroying cement test results related to the accident. It also will pay a $200,000 maximum fine, agree to three-years’ probation, and cooperate with the government’s on-going investigation.
The $55 million to the environmental group is not part of the deal.
Haliburton was BP’s cement contractor, and both of them are fingering each other for the failure of the cement to seal the well.
A judge still has to approve the plea deal.
