BP probation challenge before federal judge

The decision on whether oil industry giant BP deserves to be issued with further penalties is now in the hands of a federal judge in the US.

BP is facing the challenge after the US suggested it had breached its probation following an oil spill near Prudhoe Bay in 2006, as another smaller spill occurred in the same area in 2009.

Under the terms of its probation, BP committed to avoid any further incidents, but argues that the 2009 leak was unexpected and occurred in a previously flawless pipeline.

However, assistant US attorney Aunnie Steward said that BP repeatedly ignored alarms warning that the pipeline was cold, so that when the leak occurred it no longer registered on the alarm list.

She added that failure to move sensors so that they reflected the true temperature of the pipeline constituted negligence.

The US government has previously described the 2009 spill as "predictable and preventable" and "eerily similar to the 2006 spill".

Posted by Lauren Steadman