BP to pay $50 million more over US refinery

Oil giant BP has agreed to pay $50 million for pollution violations at the time of a massive, deadly 2005 blast at its Texas City refinery, state officials announced Thursday. The new penalties to be paid to Texas come on top of other fines and payments in connection with the explosion in which 15 workers were killed and 170 injured. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office charged the British-based firm with violating state environmental protection laws "for unlawfully emitting pollutants during and after the March 2005 explosion," a statement from his office said. According to the state, BP "was responsible for 72 separate -- and unlawful -- pollutant emissions that have been occurring every few months since March 2005." BP is accused of illegally releasing approximately 500,000 pounds of harmful air pollutants over the course of 40 days after a compressor caught fire due to poor maintenance at the huge facility. The company has shelled out billions as well in connection with the 2010 explosion at its Deepwater Horizon platform in the Gulf of Mexico that resulted in the worst accidental oil spill in the history of the industry.