BP Suspended From New U.S. Government Contracts

In this April 21, 2010 image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, fire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. (US Coast Guard/AP)

BP is being temporarily suspended from new contracts with the U.S. government, the Environmental Protection Agency says.

Two weeks ago, BP agreed to plead guilty to charges involving the deaths of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which exploded and sank in April 2010, setting off the nation’s largest offshore oil spill. BP will also plead guilty to lying to Congress about how much oil was spewing from the blown-out Macondo well

The agency said Wednesday that the suspension is due to BP’s “lack of business integrity as demonstrated by the company’s conduct with regard to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, explosion, oil spill, and response.”

Guest:

• Abrahm Lustgarten, reporter for ProPublica and author of “Run to Failure: BP and the Making of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster.” He tweets @AbrahmL.