$4.2 million penalty approved in deadly 2012 platform fire

NEW ORLEANS – An energy company has been formally sentenced to a $4.2 million penalty in connection with a 2012 offshore oil platform fire that killed three workers.

Houston-based Black Elk Energy had agreed to the penalty in May and pleaded guilty to eight violations of federal laws governing safety and pollution.

Prosecutors agreed to dismiss three counts of involuntary manslaughter.

U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo imposed the sentence Thursday.

A 2013 report by federal regulators identified safety lapses leading to the blast and fire on a platform about 17 miles (27 kilometres) from Grand Isle, Louisiana.