Oil: Chevron’s Costly Gusher

The big fire and explosion at Chevron Oil Co.’s Platform Charlie, 30 miles off the Louisiana coast (TIME, April 13), caused the worst offshore oil-well spill in history. For three weeks, a dozen underwater wells spewed up to 1,000 bbl. a day of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, creating a 50-sq.-mi. slick. The Government accused Chevron, a subsidiary of Standard Oil of California, of failing to install legally mandatory storm chokes and other safety gear that would have shut off the wells when the platform exploded. Last week, in U.S. district court in New Orleans, Chevron pleaded no contest to the charges. The fine was $1,000,000—the largest penalty for polluting ever imposed on an American company by a court.