HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) said Friday that it has formally contested the $87 million fine levied by U.S. federal regulators over alleged safety violations at its Texas City refinery.
Earlier Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor said that it was levying the record fine because the U.K. oil company had failed to fix safety problems after the 2005 blast that killed 15 people and injured 170 others at the Texas City plant.
The fine came even though the dispute over the problems was before the Occupational Health and Safety Review Commission, which is independent of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The company's filing should expedite the process of referring the case to an administrative law judge, BP said.
"We are disappointed that OSHA took this action in advance of the full consideration of the review commission," said Texas City refinery manager Keith Casey. "We continue to believe we are in full compliance with the settlement agreement, and we look forward to demonstrating that before the review commission. While we strongly disagree with OSHA's conclusions, we will continue to work with the agency to resolve our differences."
-By Susan Daker, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9208; susan.daker@dowjones.com