Chevron staff charged over Brazil oil spill - Americas - Al Jazeera English
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Federal prosecutors in Brazil have filed criminal charges against 17 Chevron and Transocean company executives over an oil leak in the Atlantic Ocean in November 2011.
Prosecutors on Wednesday accused the executives of environmental crimes, of misleading Brazil’s oil regulator about their safety plans and not providing accurate information in the wake of the spill.
At least 416,000 litres of oil seeped through cracks on the ocean floor near a Chevron appraisal well off the Rio de Janeiro coast.
The federal prosecutors’ office in Rio de Janeiro said in an emailed statement that the two companies and 17 of its executives had been charged with “crimes against the environment.”
If found guilty, the executives could face up to 31 years in prison.