Oil spill commission members let BP exec off easy in questioning Monday

[Poboy]

Oil spill commission members let BP exec off easy in questioning Monday
Published: Monday, July 12, 2010, 3:23 PM

"We will have staff research that will help us frame the right questions," said Don Boesch, a University of Maryland professor and former Louisiana oceanographer. "We will have another chance to talk with BP."
He said many of the top BP executives were not available this week because of the company's board meeting in England. Frances Ullmer, chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, said the commission was just trying to get a lay of the land during the initial meetings.
The "wait-for-later" approach is similar to the process followed by other investigative bodies so far. A Marine Board panel that resumes next week in Kenner and several congressional committees that have held hearings in Washington have failed to crack down on BP witnesses when given the opportunity.
Top BP executives Tony Hayward and Lamar McKay often said they did not have enough direct knowledge of operations to answer tough questions about decisions made on the Deepwater Horizon rig, which prompted members of Congress to ask for them to come back with written answers later.
And the Marine Board had a chance to get sworn testimony from BP executive David Sims, who actually approved the well's drill plan and was visiting the rig when it exploded, and never asked him about the designs he signed off on. When asked why, panel members said it was because they were interviewing Sims on the phone from Houston while he oversaw the company's relief-well operations and they wanted to wait to get him in person to ask those questions.

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