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In the wake of the environmental disaster stemming from the BP (BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Congress summoned oil officials to testify over the safety of their offshore drilling.The oil spill that started back on April 20 when one of BP's offshore drilling platforms exploded continues to leak into the ocean, and could take up to another two months to stop. Following the accident, President Obama imposed a six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling and Congress is now trying to determine the likelihood of another disaster taking place.
Oil executives gathered Tuesday to testify in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and overwhelmingly stated that they believed the BP accident was an aberration that is unlikely to repeat if proper controls and safety procedures are followed.
Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil (XOM), testified that accidents like the one BP experienced "should not happen" if companies follow proper well design, drilling, maintenance and training procedures
With so much on the line, oil companies are trying to distance themselves from BP, and Chevron (CVX) CEO John S. Watson noted that every Chevron employee has the right to stop work immediately if they spot anything that they view as unsafe. This was a direct stab at reports that BP continued operating its deep-water Horizon well even after it had been warned several times that conditions were dangerous.
As more inter-company emails surface, it is becoming clear that BP officials were well aware of the fact that corners had been cut, and basically turned a blind eye to the consequences that could result.
One BP engineer emailed a co-worker less than a week before the disaster stating that the company had chosen a cheap, fast option to secure the well, and went so far as to refer to the well as a "disaster."
Another email was sent out by a BP official stating that "who cares, it's done, end of story, will probably be fine." Unfortunately, things were not fine, and instead led to the nation's largest environmental disaster in our history.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman Monday night reported that the committee had found an alarming pattern of neglect on the part of BP, including cutting corners and doing things faster than they should have in an attempt to trim costs whenever possible.
In today's testimony, Chevron's CEO reported that his company had performed an internal audit, which confirmed that Chevron's wells are safe and environmentally sound.
In addition to looking for ways to prevent future accidents, the committee is also looking at the various plans of clean up that each company has in place should another disaster take place. Alarmingly all of the plans are roughly the same, which Mr. Waxman referred to as "paper exercises."
A couple aspects of the clean-up plans raise alarms. For example, they include measures for protecting walruses -- which have not lived in the Gulf for three million years. And two companies list the phone number for the exact same expert that BP has in their plan. What makes this truly alarming is the fact that the expert is long-dead.
Obviously there are problems with the clean-up plans that need to be addressed before we can rest easy that another disaster is not around the corner.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-15-2010 @ 10:14PM
msavage12 said...
My Letter To Gulf Residents.
http://www.urbanconservancy.org/letters/gulf-coast-cleanup-caution-urged
The continuing health problems of people involved in cleanup of the Exxon Valdez spill present urgent lessons for the Gulf cleanup crews.
My name is Merle Savage, a female general foreman during the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) beach cleanup in 1989, and one of the 11,000+ cleanup workers, who is suffering from health issues from that toxic cleanup, without compensation from Exxon.
Dr. Riki Ott visited me in 2007 to explain about the toxic spraying on the beaches. She also informed me that Exxon’s medical records, and the reports that surfaced in litigation by sick workers in 1994, had been sealed from the public, making it impossible to hold Exxon responsible for their actions.
Exxon developed the toxic spraying; OSHA, the Coast Guard, and the state of Alaska authorized the procedure. Beach crews breathed in crude oil that splashed off the rocks and into the air — the toxic exposure turned into chronic breathing conditions, central nervous system problems, neurological impairment, chronic respiratory disease, leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, liver damage, and blood disease. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5632208859935499100
My web site is devoted to searching for EVOS cleanup workers who were exposed to the toxic spraying, and are suffering from the same illnesses that I have. There is an on going Longshoreman’s claim for workers with medical problems from the oil cleanup. Our summer employment turned into a death sentence for many — and a life of unending medical conditions for the rest of Exxon’s Collateral Damaged. http://www.silenceinthesound.com/stories.shtml
6-16-2010 @ 6:00AM
Dan Barnett said...
Well, duh. You REALLY expect the CEOs of Exxon, Chevron, etc. to come out & say that this type of spill could happen anywhere, but we still want to drill in ANWR & offshore? At least they had the good sense not to chant "Drill, Baby, Drill" during the hearings.
6-16-2010 @ 2:56PM
HAPPEEEHOUR said...
EVERY DAY WE SEE OIL SPREWING FROM BP'S BROKEN PIPE. THEY PLACED A SHROUD OVER THIS PIPE TO COLLECT THE OIL, HOWEVER IT APPEARS THAT THERE IS STILL A LARGE AMOUNT OF OIL SPILLING BACK OUT FROM UNDER THE SHROUD INTO THE GULF. QUESTION? 1. WHY CAN'T YOU PUT A SECOND LARGER SHROUD ABOVE THE FIRST SHROUD WITH A LONGER SKIRT, LARGE ENOUGH TO COLLECT THE OVER SPILL FROM THE FIRST SHROUD AND PIPE IT TO A SHIP? 2. YOU WERE PUMPING HEAVY MUD THRU 2 PIPES ON THE BLOWOUT PREVENTER TO CAP THE LEAK, ARE THESE PIPES BEING USED TO REMOVE OIL FROM THE WELL? 3. HOW MANY MORE PORTS ON THE BLOWOUT PREVENTER COULD BE CONVERTED TO REMOVE OIL FROM THE WELL TO REDUCE THE PRESSURE? WE DON'T NEED ALL THESE WASHINGTON BUREAUCATES TELLING BP HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM, WE NEED PEOPLE WITH HANDS ON EXPERIENCE AND A LOT OF COMMON SENSE. THE 5000' DEPTH IS NOT EXCUSE , TOO MANY PEOPLE KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO AND HAVE DONE AT THAT DEPTH. LET'S GET ON WITH FIXING THIS FEASCO, IT'S NO LONGER AN EXCUSE TO PASS THE CAP AND TRADE RIP-OFF.