The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt by victims of a deadly refinery explosion to block a plea deal between BP PLC and prosecutors.

The Supreme Court’s action means a federal judge in Houston can now decide whether to give final approval to the much criticized plea deal, which settles criminal conduct by the London-based oil company related to the 2005 blast.

The agreement, which has a BP subsidiary pleading guilty to a violation of the Clean Air Act, calls for a $50 million fine, and sentences the oil giant to three years’ probation for its role in the Texas City blast that killed 15 people and injured more than 170.

This entry was posted by Mining News on Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Oil and Gas. Tags: BP Plc, Company, Houston, London, Oil, oil company, oil giant, Supreme Court, Texas, Texas City, U.S. Supreme Court. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.