Oil Execs Donate Safety Bonuses to Gulf Rig Workers’ Families

Five vice-presidents in charge of the oil rig that caused the massive Gulf oil spill last year were awarded bonuses for their exemplary safety record.

Presiding over an accident that killed 11 workers and caused one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history is, to most people, somewhat a stain on a company’s safety record. So observers were shocked to learn that five executives at Transocean, the company in charge of the Deepwater Horizon rig at the time of last April’s catastrophic blowout, were given hefty bonuses for making 2010 the company’s “best year” in safety. Public outcry compelled the company to issue an apology earlier this week, but the executives have now announced they will donate the $250,000 they received to the Deepwater Horizon Memorial Fund, which was established by Transocean to assist the families of the workers killed in the disaster.