Feedback: Rolled? BP? Really?

Re: “Spillapalooza: How BP Got Screwed in the Gulf” (Features, July 1-July 7, 2013): Paul M. Barrett’s story is correct—“BP faces an enormous obstacle: It agreed to the arrangements it now asserts are out of control.” However, the article mischaracterizes the terms of the Settlement Agreement and omits a great number of facts that illustrate the disingenuous nature of BP’s recent public-relations efforts, which are entirely divorced from reality.

When BP entered into the settlement negotiations in 2010 it was facing enormous governmental, legal, investor, and public pressure stemming from the utter lack of corporate integrity that led to the worst oil spill the world has known, the death of 11 men, unquantified environmental damage, and grave economic uncertainty.