Cebu_4_2
14th September 2011, 08:58 AM
Fed report blames missteps by BP, others for Gulf oil spill
By Douglas Stanglin (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/reporter/Douglas+Stanglin), USA TODAY
Updated
http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/on-deadline/2011/09/13/Gulfx-wide-community.jpg (http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/on-deadline/2011/09/13/Gulfx-large.jpg)The federal government's final report on the Gulf oil spill blames poor management, missteps and a faulty cement job by BP and others (http://news.yahoo.com/gulf-spill-blamed-poor-management-decisions-141202926.html) for the tragedy that left 11 people dead.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and the agency that regulates offshore drilling.
A key finding from the report's executive summary:
The loss of life at the Macondo site on April 20, 2010, and the subsequent pollution of the Gulf of Mexico through the summer of 2010 were the result of poor risk management, last‐minute changes to plans, failure to observe and respond to critical indicators, inadequate well control response, and insufficient emergency bridge response training by companies and individuals responsible for drilling at the Macondo well and for the operation of the Deepwater Horizon.
BP, as the designated operator under BOEMRE regulations, was ultimately responsible for conducting operations at Macondo in a way that ensured the safety and protection of personnel, equipment, natural resources, and the environment. Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon, was responsible for conducting safe operations and for protecting personnel onboard. Halliburton, as a contractor to BP, was responsible for conducting the cement job, and, through its subsidiary (Sperry Sun), had certain responsibilities for monitoring the well. Cameron was responsible for the design of the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer ("BOP") stack.
READ: The full report. (http://www.boemre.gov/pdfs/maps/DWHFINAL.pdf)
The panel found evidence that BP and, in some instances, its contractors violated the following federal regulations:
BP failed to protect health, safety, property, and the environment by (1) performing all operations in a safe and workmanlike manner; and (2) maintaining all equipment and work areas in a safe condition;
BP, Transocean, and Halliburton (Sperry Sun) failed to take measures to prevent the unauthorized release of hydrocarbons into the Gulf of Mexico and creating conditions that posed unreasonable risk to public health, life, property, aquatic life, wildlife, recreation, navigation, commercial fishing, or other uses of the ocean;
BP, Transocean, and Halliburton (Sperry Sun) failed to take necessary precautions to keep the well under control at all times;
BP and Halliburton failed to cement the well in a manner that would properly control formation pressures and fluids and prevent the release of fluids from any stratum through the wellbore into offshore waters;
BP failed to use pressure integrity test and related hole‐behavior observations, such as pore pressure test results, gas‐cut drilling fluid, and well kicks to adjust the drilling fluid program and the setting depth of the next casing string;
BP and Transocean failed to conduct major inspections of all BOP stack components; and BP failed to perform the negative test proceduresdetailed in an application for a permit to modify its plans.
The panel held hearings over the course of a year after the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon tragedy. The Coast Guard-Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement investigation was among the most exhaustive, the Associated Press reports.
Other investigations have faulted misreadings of key data, the failure of the blowout preventer to stop the flow of oil to the sea and other shortcomings by executives, engineers and rig crewmembers, the AP says.
By Douglas Stanglin (http://content.usatoday.com/topics/reporter/Douglas+Stanglin), USA TODAY
Updated
http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/on-deadline/2011/09/13/Gulfx-wide-community.jpg (http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/on-deadline/2011/09/13/Gulfx-large.jpg)The federal government's final report on the Gulf oil spill blames poor management, missteps and a faulty cement job by BP and others (http://news.yahoo.com/gulf-spill-blamed-poor-management-decisions-141202926.html) for the tragedy that left 11 people dead.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and the agency that regulates offshore drilling.
A key finding from the report's executive summary:
The loss of life at the Macondo site on April 20, 2010, and the subsequent pollution of the Gulf of Mexico through the summer of 2010 were the result of poor risk management, last‐minute changes to plans, failure to observe and respond to critical indicators, inadequate well control response, and insufficient emergency bridge response training by companies and individuals responsible for drilling at the Macondo well and for the operation of the Deepwater Horizon.
BP, as the designated operator under BOEMRE regulations, was ultimately responsible for conducting operations at Macondo in a way that ensured the safety and protection of personnel, equipment, natural resources, and the environment. Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon, was responsible for conducting safe operations and for protecting personnel onboard. Halliburton, as a contractor to BP, was responsible for conducting the cement job, and, through its subsidiary (Sperry Sun), had certain responsibilities for monitoring the well. Cameron was responsible for the design of the Deepwater Horizon blowout preventer ("BOP") stack.
READ: The full report. (http://www.boemre.gov/pdfs/maps/DWHFINAL.pdf)
The panel found evidence that BP and, in some instances, its contractors violated the following federal regulations:
BP failed to protect health, safety, property, and the environment by (1) performing all operations in a safe and workmanlike manner; and (2) maintaining all equipment and work areas in a safe condition;
BP, Transocean, and Halliburton (Sperry Sun) failed to take measures to prevent the unauthorized release of hydrocarbons into the Gulf of Mexico and creating conditions that posed unreasonable risk to public health, life, property, aquatic life, wildlife, recreation, navigation, commercial fishing, or other uses of the ocean;
BP, Transocean, and Halliburton (Sperry Sun) failed to take necessary precautions to keep the well under control at all times;
BP and Halliburton failed to cement the well in a manner that would properly control formation pressures and fluids and prevent the release of fluids from any stratum through the wellbore into offshore waters;
BP failed to use pressure integrity test and related hole‐behavior observations, such as pore pressure test results, gas‐cut drilling fluid, and well kicks to adjust the drilling fluid program and the setting depth of the next casing string;
BP and Transocean failed to conduct major inspections of all BOP stack components; and BP failed to perform the negative test proceduresdetailed in an application for a permit to modify its plans.
The panel held hearings over the course of a year after the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon tragedy. The Coast Guard-Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement investigation was among the most exhaustive, the Associated Press reports.
Other investigations have faulted misreadings of key data, the failure of the blowout preventer to stop the flow of oil to the sea and other shortcomings by executives, engineers and rig crewmembers, the AP says.