Exposed: BP, its pipeline, and an environmental timebomb

[CShine]

The safety of a controversial oil pipeline being built by one of Britain's largest companies has been jeopardised by cost-cutting, incompetence and shoddy workmanship by contractors, whistleblowers have reported. Former senior workers have revealed a catalogue of failures they say could lead to a major oil leak that would devastate one of the world's most environmentally sensitive areas. A dossier including their evidence, seen by The Independent, indicates BP's contractors and sub-contractors are cutting corners to get the job completed on time.

The whistleblowers, qualified professionals, say BP made a major mistake in handing control of the section of the 1,000-mile pipeline through Turkey to a government-owned company, Botas, on a fixed-price contract. The full line runs from the Caspian Sea to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

The project ran into opposition from civil rights and environmental groups when BTC, the 11-member consortium led by BP, sought funding from public bodies such as the World Bank and the UK's Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD). Opponents said the pipeline, which would be driven through some of the world's most earthquake-prone and conflict-ridden areas, would wreak environmental, social and economic havoc. A spokesman for the ECGD said the department believed it had made a full assessment of the project before it decided to support it.

The whistleblowers' statements, which will be given to the MPs next month, say that:

builders cut off villages' water supplies, flooded farmland and allowed oil leaks;

there were insufficient checks for the risk of the pipe buckling in earthquake zones;

crucial welding work often failed inspections;
those who complained were sacked or made to leave;

workers handled toxic coating materials without proper health and safety equipment.

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=535345

[acmavm]

1. The love of money overrides any ethics or decency when it comes to

the oil industry. What difference does it make if they are the cause of so much environmental disaster as long as they rake in the buck before it hits. And who's gonna hold them accountable anyway?