Technician: Deepwater Horizon warning system disabled

[theHandpuppet]

Source: The Washington Post

News Alert: Technician: Warning system on BP oil rig had been disabled
11:03 AM EDT Friday, July 23, 2010
--------------------

By David S. Hilzenrath
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 23, 2010; 10:56 AM

KENNER, LA. -- Long before an eruption of gas turned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig into a fireball, an alarm system designed to alert the crew and prevent combustible gases from reaching potential sources of ignition had been deliberately disabled, the former chief electronics technician on the rig testified Friday.

Michael Williams said he understood that the rig had been operating with the system in "inhibited" mode for a year to prevent false alarms from disturbing the crew.

Williams said the explanation he got was that the leadership of the rig did not want crew members needlessly awakened in the middle of the night.

<snipping>

If the safety system was disabled, it would not have been a unique event. Records of federal enforcement actions reviewed by The Washington Post show that, in case after case, rig operators paid fines for allegedly bypassing safety systems that could impede routine operations....

Read more: http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/E5QODK/XTLCYQ/30VZN8/D3NVQF/IUACY/W1/t

[sakabatou]

1. Profits over safety again

[ladywnch]

2. yeah, the industry does so well self regulating they really should be relieved

of the burdens of all these regulations.....


okay, new regs (with a nod to Bill Mahr)

for every bypassed/non working safety system 10 million dollar fine for first offense plus 5 million for every day it remains non operational. Second offense: first fine times 10 or 100 million plus 25 million for every day it remains non operational. Third offense: second fine times 10 or 1 billion plus 100 million for every day it remains operational. Forth offense: you forfeit your leases and are no longer able to drill in the US

Appoint someone making sure all fines are paid - if fines are to be effective, they must be collected. Fine are to be paid in full not on the installment plan at 100K a year nonsense. If fines are to be effective they must be PAINFUL and make a 'logical, sane person' think twice about deliberately breaking the rules.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

3. But we still trust BP to tell the truth don't we?

Hmmm.....maybe not

http://www.allgov.com/Unusual_News/ViewNews/BP_Admits_Photoshopping_Disaster_Response_Images_100723



BP Admits Photoshopping Disaster Response Images
Friday, July 23, 2010 (graphic: Gizmodo) As if BP didn’t have enough public relations problems on its hands stemming from the gulf oil spill, it turns out the oil company doctored some of the photos it released to the media demonstrating its response to the disaster.


First, BP communications was caught sending out a photo of its spill command center that showed personnel acting busier than they really were.

The next day, another BP photo was exposed to have been “photoshopped”—and badly too—when the website Gizmodo noticed several problems with the image of a helicopter crew flying over the ocean towards the scene of the spill. The blunders included leaving part of a control tower in the upper left corner of the picture, as well as showing the pilot holding a pre-flight checklist and the helicopter’s control gauges indicating its door and ramp were open and its parking brake engaged.

And there is this also from AllGov:

http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/More_No_Show_Witnesses_in_Oil_Rig_Explosion_Probe_100722

Federal officials have had a difficult time getting BP and Transoecan witnesses to testify before hearings held in New Orleans that are designed to determine the causes of the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico.


To date, nine witnesses have cancelled or postponed their appearances before the panel run by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. Among those avoiding testifying are Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine, two BP employees who were in charge of the oil rig before it exploded. Kaluza has refused to speak for fear of incriminating himself, and Vidrine cited health problems when he cancelled his appearance.

Four Transocean blowout preventer supervisors also refused to appear. A blowout preventer is a safety device that failed on the Deepwater Horizon.

One witness who did provide testimony was Ronald Sepulvado, a BP well site leader, who told the government the blowout preventer at the bottom of the gulf was leaking weeks before the explosion on April 20. BP was supposed to stop drilling at that point, but it did not, according to Sepulvado.

More here: http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/More_No_Show_Witnesses_in_Oil_Rig_Explosion_Probe_100722

[WingDinger]

4. What the FUCK, this is triangle shirt, writ large. Hoe Hum.

Someone else will tend to it. NMP. This should issue a debate on corporate personhood. And Civil responsibility. And how to ensure that some persons cant blame EVERYONE ELSE. Have principals sign on the line, for culpability. Then see enforcement change.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

5. And yet nothing will happen ot these weasels. nt

[Nostradammit]

9. Why do some people always respond this way?

I don't understand. It almost seems as if some people don't want
accountability. Like they are trying to discourage the progressive
movement. It is, in effect, saying, "Don't even bother trying to
change things, the elite are untouchable."

Well, to them I say, "FUCK THAT"

These weasels are going to get exactly what's coming to them.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

10. Because nothing ever fucking does (change): Union Carbide, Halliburton,

Exxon, Chevron and an and on and on. Try not to be too disappointed when nobody goes to prison. And if someone actually does maybe for 18 months or some shit. I won't even bother to say: "I told you so."

If I'm wrong then then I'll be incredibly happy that things did turn out for the better (for once). But don't hold your breath.

[Nostradammit]

11. In the meantime you'll be stoking the fires of cynicism and futility, I'm sure

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

12. Oh yeah ,because what some anonymous dude says on the intertutubes is soooooo

influential. There is a pattern at work here. It happens time and time again. Like i said fucking prove me wrong. Bookmark this thread then when these fuckers end up in the slammer for homicidal negligence or some such thing. Get back to me, do a little dance or whatever. I actually want to be wrong about this.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. the more that comes out about this spill...

the more I wonder "did they want this to happen?"

[hugo_from_TN]

7. It is looking more likely that Transocean is the most liable in this disaster.

As owners of the rig, they will be legally liable for the deaths of the crew and it appears their procedures were criminally negligent. As has been pointed out, a Transocean employee (OIM, Offshore Installation Manager)had the power to veto any operation deemed unsafe.

[daleo]

8. Someone is in big trouble

That could be a criminal charge. It certainly is grounds for a big lawsuit by the survivors and the families of the dead.

[Turborama]

13. K&R Deepwater Horizon alarms were switched off 'to help workers sleep'

The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/23/deepwater-horizon-oil-rig-alarms

[kpete]

14. Oil Rig Alarm Was Not Fully Turned On, Worker Says

Source: New York Times

Oil Rig Alarm Was Not Fully Turned On, Worker Says
By ROBBIE BROWN
Published: July 23, 2010

KENNER, La. — The emergency alarm on the Deepwater Horizon was not fully activated on the day the oil rig caught fire and exploded, triggering the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a rig worker on Friday told a government panel investigating the accident.

The worker, Mike Williams, chief electronics technician aboard the Transocean rig, said the general safety alarm was habitually set to “inhibited” to avoid waking up the crew with late-night sirens.

“They did not want people woke up at 3 a.m. from false alarms,” Mr. Williams told the federal panel of investigators in this New Orleans suburb. Consequently, the alarm did not sound during the emergency, leaving workers to relay information through the loudspeaker system.

A six-member panel is investigating the April 20 disaster that killed 11 people and unleashed the largest oil spill in United States history. At hearings this week, crew members have described repeated failures in the weeks before the disaster, including power losses, computer crashes and leaking emergency equipment.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/24/us/24hearings.html?_r=2&hp

[dipsydoodle]

15. Deja vu

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4475920

[ladywnch]

16. why do I feel like this is going to result in nothing.

After all these revelations the outcome will be, 'well, there were some lapses in procedure and safety issues but there was no willful malice or disregard for regulations. We all need to learn from this unfortunate incident and move on.' And then all the low level supervisors will be indicted and all the executives will get bonuses.

Nothing ever changes.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. God forbid a fire alarm should wake anyone up.