Court says BP Texas City cases now down to one

HOUSTON (Reuters) - BP on Friday announced settlements with four more victims of a deadly 2005 blast at a Texas refinery, leaving only one of more than 4,000 lawsuits still pending, a Texas state court said.

The lawsuits stemmed from the March 23, 2005, explosion at the giant Texas City refinery which killed 15 workers and injured 180 others.

"Our goal from the outset has been to fairly compensate people harmed by this tragedy," said BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell in a statement.

As part of the settlements BP agreed to release millions of pages of internal documents.

The terms of the settlements were confidential but lead plaintiffs' attorney Brent Coon said, "Our clients are very pleased with the settlement, which provide some assurances of security for their long-term financial needs."

BP set aside $2.1 billion (1.13 billion pounds) to resolve the claims made against the company following the explosion.

A U.S. Chemical Safety Board investigation completed in 2007 found cost-cutting by BP led to reductions in safety equipment and procedures at the refinery, which left it vulnerable to a catastrophic explosion.

An independent investigation found safety lapses at the company's five U.S. refineries.

The U.S. Justice Department has reached a plea deal with BP, which would require the energy giant to pay a $50 million fine and serve three years probation to resolve criminal violations in the explosion.