transocean

So a “best year” means having an oil rig explode, which cost 11 people their lives and lead to the biggest oil spill in American history?

Transocean Ltd. gave its top executives bonuses for achieving the "best year in safety performance in our company's history" — despite the explosion of its oil rig that killed 11 people, including nine of its own employees, and spilled 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

The company said in a regulatory filing that its most senior managers were given two-thirds of their total possible safety bonus.

Transocean noted "the tragic loss of life" in the Gulf when the rig operated by BP PLC exploded last April. But it said the company still had an "exemplary" safety record because it met or exceeded certain internal safety targets concerning the frequency and severity of its accidents, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

If any of these executives had an ounce of humanity in them then they would donate their bonuses to the families of the people who died on their rig and the people affected by their disaster. Yeah, that will really happen!

About damn time:

A team of top federal prosecutors and investigators has taken the first steps toward a formal criminal investigation into oil giant BP's actions before and after the drilling rig disaster off Louisiana.

The investigators, who have been quietly gathering evidence in Louisiana over the last three weeks, are focusing on whether BP skirted federal safety regulations and misled the U.S. government by saying it could quickly clean up an environmental accident.

The team has met with U.S. attorneys and state officials in the Gulf Coast region and has sent letters to executives of BP and Transocean Ltd., the drilling rig owner, warning them against destroying documents or other internal records.

Now that BP officials are starting to plead the 5th about the explosion, it's past time to get them into a criminal court. And this shouldn't end up as the status-quo for corporations charged with crimes. People need to go to jail for this and BP needs a fine well beyond the typical amounts we hear, most of which would amount to about a day's profit for the oil giant.