BP Has 2 European Refinery Fires in 3 Days

[alp227]

Source: The Wall Street Journal

A fire seriously burned one person and inflicted minor injuries on another Tuesday at BP PLC's Lingen refinery in northwest Germany, the second blaze in three days at European refineries owned by the U.K. oil major, following a separate incident Sunday at its Castellon facility in Spain.

Tuesday's fire also is the second serious accident at its Lingen facility this year. The troubles have once again thrown the spotlight on BP's refining safety record, which reached its nadir with a 2005 fire and explosion that killed 15 people and injured more than 170 others at its refinery in Texas City, Texas.

A local German police spokesman didn't identify the two people injured at Lingen but said the severely burned individual remained hospitalized Wednesday. Both are BP workers, he said.

Subcontractors who were present at the refinery for maintenance work were temporarily evacuated Tuesday. Fire-safety engineers Wednesday were investigating the cause of the blaze, the police spokesman said.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203476804576612931131352962.html

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Google the title to read in full.

[valerief]

1. "Responsibility, Reschmonsibility." BP's new motto. They. Don't. Care.

Unless the fires were retaliation. But BP's negligent enough to do it on its own.

[spin]

2. BP has a history of ignoring safety regs ...

The best way to correct this is to start sending people in management to prison if they are proven to have knowing ignored the rules and regulations.

Leaked Reports Expose BP's Safety Record
Jun 7, 2010 8:00 PM EDT
A damning investigation by ProPublica finds a pattern of neglect and corner-cutting at the oil giant.

BP repeatedly disregarded safety problems, according to a new damning investigation from ProPublica that was copublished with The Washington Post. Documents about internal safety investigations leaked to ProPublica by "a person close to the company" show a pattern of neglect and a culture skewed toward silencing whistle-blowers.

The investigations described instances in which management flouted safety by neglecting aging equipment, pressured employees not to report problems, and cut short or delayed inspections to reduce production costs.

The first set of reports center on the firm's Alaska operations, and were put together by an internal committee and external lawyers in 2001, 2004, and 2007. The 2004 report found "a pattern of the company intimidating workers who raised safety or environmental concerns" and that "managers shaved maintenance costs by using aging equipment for as long as possible." In 2006, the report points out, the 2000 Prudhoe Bay pipeline spill was blamed on a corroded pipeline.

But the problems extended further than Alaska. In 2002 the firm was found to be falsifying inspections of fuel storage tanks in California. They settled a lawsuit by the South Coast Air Quality Management District for $100 million.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/06/08/new-report-reveals-bp-s-long-history-of-safety-problems.html

If a couple of managers are sent to prison for ten years, we will see fewer accidents.

[ashling]

3. Why not send them into one of their burning refineries?

:shrug:

[spin]

4. That's not really a bad idea. It is a little harsh though ...

The threat of having to spend ten years in a prison and having to pay an enormous fine should serve as an effective deterrent.

[ashling]

5. Can we send 'em in after?

extra crispy! :shrug: