A former BP engineer was charged by the Justice Department on Tuesday, with the agency claiming he destroyed records requested by prosecutors in the wake of the 2010 oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Kurt Mix, 50, was arrested Tuesday and was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice filed in a Louisiana court, the Justice Department said.
“The department has filed initial charges in its investigation into the Deepwater Horizon disaster against an individual for allegedly deleting records relating to the amount of oil flowing from the Macondo well,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
Mix worked with BP to estimate the amount of oil that was leaking from the blown-out well and allegedly deleted 300 text messages relating to how BP’s failed plans to stop the leak.
“BP sent numerous notices to Mix requiring him to retain all information concerning Macondo, including his text messages,” the Justice Department said.
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