The proposed $50 million penalty for BP for its negligence that led to the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion that killed 15 workers is letting the British-based petroleum giant off lightly, says the lawyer who represented clients injured in the explosion or who lost family members.

Corpus Christi plaintiff lawyer David Perry has told the Houston Chronicle that the company should pay at least $1 billion in fines, the equivalent of its profits, and that the Government is ignoring the company's previous violations. And he has told the International Herald Tribune that the settlement is an insult.

You can read more of Perry's argument in his court filing.

The filing outlines BP's appalling record going right back to 1985 when it was fined for its role in the North Sea fire. There are in all 30 violations. And the reason for the fire was simply bad management where the company had refused to provide the money for maintenance and enforcement.

Perry writes: "It is impossible to overstate, and difficult to comprehend, the severity of the outcome of this crime, which resulted in the immediate deaths of 15 persons, all of whom were totally innocent workers engaged in their daily work, and injured hundreds more. While it is difficult to comprehend the magnitude of the harm done, perhaps it is more difficult to comprehend the decisions which led to the disaster. Stripped to its essentials, BP's decision was to profit monetarily from human death and injury."