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BP Knew of Deepwater Horizon Problems 11 Months Ago

Posted by Soulskill on from the confirming-the-expected dept.

jkinney3 was one of several readers to send in news of recently discovered internal documents from BP which indicate the company knew "there were serious problems and safety concerns with the Deepwater Horizon rig far earlier than those the company described to Congress last week." According to the New York Times, "The documents show that in March, after several weeks of problems on the rig, BP was struggling with a loss of 'well control.' And as far back as 11 months ago, it was concerned about the well casing and the blowout preventer." Reader bezenek points out this troubling quote about BP's inconsistent risk assessments: "In April of this year, BP engineers concluded that the casing was 'unlikely to be a successful cement job,' according to a document, referring to how the casing would be sealed to prevent gases from escaping up the well. The document also says that the plan for casing the well is 'unable to fulfill M.M.S. regulations,' referring to the Minerals Management Service. A second version of the same document says 'It is possible to obtain a successful cement job' and 'It is possible to fulfill M.M.S. regulations.'"

2 of 438 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Liability caps by gandhi_2 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Any damages applied to them would simply be passed on to the consumers. Personal fines or jail for board members on the other hand....

    --
    THL phish sticks
  2. Re:Sick of Pocket Know-it-alls by DeanOh · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Collectively, neither the federal government nor the three commercial interests involved in this massive CF have done a good job of explaining the the "normal" process of deepwater drilling or the resulting problems in this case.

    And they are now unlikely to. As lawyers and congresscritters circle and drool, all we get from BP, Transocean and Halliburton (and to a lesser extent, MMS bureaucrats) pointing at each other as they try to protect their bottom lines.

    And while the live video feed of the leak that Congress delivered is terrifying: there is no scaling, and precious little perspective provided to help us understand exactly what we are looking at.

    Which leads to comments like I heard on CSPAN yesterday:
    "Can't they just drop a giant boulder on it?"

    At first I thought it was a stupid question. And then I looked at the video feed...and got it.

    I'm lucky: I got to enjoy the gulf before it turned into a petrol wasteland. Right now, I'm pessimistic that my kid will get to do the same.