JURIST - Paper Chase: BP faces EPA criminal probe into Alaska oil spill: WSJ

[JURIST] The Environmental Protection Agency [official website] is conducting a criminal investigation into management by British Petroleum [corporate website] of oil pipelines in Alaska, according to a report [registration required] in Thursday's Wall Street Journal. A corroded pipeline owned by the company spilled an estimated 134,000 to 267,000 gallons of crude oil in March, the largest spill ever in Alaskan history [BBC report]. The EPA's criminal investigation division [backgrounder] is looking into potential violations of the Clean Water Act [text]. The US Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska [official website] would prosecute any violation of the Clean Water Act.

The EPA probe comes as BP is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation [official website] into a refinery accident last year that killed 15 people and wounded 170. Reuters has more.

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