Poisoned Legacy: The Human Cost of BP''s Rise to Power

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing eleven workers and creating the largest oil spill in the history of U.S. offshore drilling, a spill that has despoiled the Gulf and its wildlife for long periods to come. But, this wasn't the first time British Petroleum and its cost-cutting practices destroyed parts of the natural world or endangered human life. Journalist Mike Magner has been tracking BP's negligent, cost-cutting path for years. From Alaska to Kansas to the Gulf, he's talked to people whose lives have been destroyed by BP's almost unparalleled corporate greed. For example when BP acquired an abandoned Kansas refinery in 1998, it discovered one of the most contaminated groundwater plumes in the U.S. Instead of starting a cleanup, BP declared there was no cause for concern. The town's cancer cases rose. In 2004, an explosion at BP's Texas City refinery, which had already been slapped with multiple ignored safety violations, killed fifteen people. A year later, thousands of gallons of oil spilled onto Alaska's North Slope from a neglected BP pipeline. Following a hurricane, the Thunder Horse rig almost sank because of shoddy welding. Poisoned Legacy is the story of the rise and fall of BP, a company that continues to put profit ahead of human life and preservation of the natural world. See more