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An aerial view shows oil that seeped from a well operated by Chevron at Frade, on the waters in Campos Basin in Rio de Janeiro state November 18, 2011.
RIO DE JANEIRO -- A Brazilian federal prosecutor filed criminal charges against U.S. oil company Chevron and drill-rig operator Transocean for a November oil spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, the prosecutor's office said on Wednesday.
The prosecutor, Eduardo Santos de Oliveira, also filed criminal charges against 17 executives and employees at Chevron and Transocean, owner of the world's largest oil rig fleet. Among the defendants is George Buck, 46, a U.S. national in charge of Chevron's operations in Brazil, the office said in a statement.
The charges allege that the spill created "a prolonged contamination time bomb" that threatens the entire marine ecosystem.
At least 110,000 gallons of oil seeped through cracks on the ocean floor near a Chevron Corp. appraisal well off the Rio de Janeiro coast in November. The well, drilled by Transocean Ltd., has since been sealed, but a small amount of seepage reappeared in recent days, raising concern the damage is not yet over.
In addition to Buck, prosecutors leveled criminal charges against five other Americans, five Brazilians, two Frenchmen, two Australians, a Canadian and a Briton.
Prosecutors have also asked that that all the assets of those charged be seized, that each person be fined $555,555 and each company $5.6 million.
Brazil has seen much worse oil spills, but the Chevron leak is the biggest test of offshore drilling safety since massive deposits were discovered in recent years, reserves that could hold 50 billion barrels of oil. Prison sentences could reach as high as 31 years.
The spill was less than 0.1 percent of the size of the 4-million-barrel BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
This article includes reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press.
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Funny they don´t file charges and hold executives when Petrobras, the state owned oil company, spills oil in the sea.
This will go nowhere.
Corporations need to be held fully accountable for the costs of doing business, including cleaning up thier messes and cleaning up before they leave a site.
Don't worry for our people , I'm sure a seal extraction team is being formed at this moment , no one in the world is allowed to put our people on trial but us , no matter how many die or how much damage is done .
And anyone who causes the US any kind of grief is a terrorist and will be tried here also.
If they think they are going to drill and retrieve 50,000,000,000 barrels of oil out of the deep ocean and not have any leakage, I wish them luck. If they are going to arrest everyone that is not Brazilian over a little spill I would imagine that nobody from outside of Brazil will want to be involved with the process.
There is more than meets the eye on this one. Brazil is showing it's isolationist side. Chevron must have teed of Petrobas or something.
They allowed these leases to major international oil companies because they didn't have the ability to drill and produce it themselves. Now they're trying to loot any profits they've made. Let them drill themselves and see if they have any spills.
It doesn't matter how much or little oil seepage there is. Polluting is polluting and Brazil has the right to sue Chevron and prosecute those who have broken their laws environmental laws.