March 11 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court upheld adistrict judge's decision to drop manslaughter charges againsttwo former BP Plc well site managers over their roles inthe 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil drilling disaster that killed 11people.
Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine were the twohighest-ranking supervisors on board the Deepwater Horizon rigwhen disaster struck on April 20, 2010, sending millions ofbarrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appealson Wednesday dismissed 11 counts of seaman's manslaughtercharges facing Kaluza and Vidrine.
The panel affirmed a district court's 2013 ruling, sayingthe men's responsibilities on the rig did not constitute the"marine operations, maintenance, and navigation" of a ship andso the federal law did not apply to them.
The indictment accused the men of "negligent and grosslynegligent" supervision of testing at the well in the run up tothe explosion.
BP has sustained more than $42 billion in charges from thedisaster aboard the rig. The company is awaiting a separateruling from a New Orleans federal judge, expected some time thisyear, over its fines under the U.S. Clean Water Act.
The case is USA v. Robert Kaluza; Donald Vidrine, Case:14-30122.
(Reporting by Kanika Sikka and Supriya Kurane in Bengaluru;Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)