NEW ORLEANS — The Justice Department has reached a $1.4 billion settlement with Transocean Ltd., the owner of the drilling rig that sank after an explosion killed 11 workers and spawned the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Two people with knowledge of the negotiations say Switzerland-based Transocean would pay the money to resolve the department’s civil and criminal probe of the company’s role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The announcement is expected later today. Transocean would pay $1 billion in civil penalties, $400 million in criminal penalties and would plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act. BP PLC, which leased the rig from Transocean, already has agreed to pay a record $4.5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to manslaughter and other criminal charges related to the spill. The deal with BP doesn’t resolve the federal government’s civil claims against the London-based oil company.
