A former engineer for BP has been arrested and accused of deleting text messages detailing how much oil was gushing into the Gulf of Mexico as BP tried to staunch the Deepwater Horizon spill in the spring of 2010.

Kurt Mix, of Katy, Texas, is charged with two counts of obstructing justice for deleting from his iPhone hundreds of text messages he exchanged with a co-worker and a contractor, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.

The complaint represents the first criminal charges brought against any workers involved in the accident or its aftermath. A lawyer for Mr. Mix, who is expected to appear in court Tuesday afternoon, couldn’t immediately be identified.

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