Sept. 9, 2010 (In These Times) -- BP released its internal report on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster that killed 11 workers and spilled millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday.
The investigators concluded that no single catastrophic failure caused the demise of the Deepwater Horizon. Rather, BP's report paints a picture of a rig that was so thoroughly defective that virtually component of a multi-layered safety system failed at the critical moment. The authors of the report are so focused on blaming subcontractors for specific errors that they don't seem to realize what a damning picture they're painting of the entire operation. BP was not running a tight ship.
The worst oil spill in U.S. history started with what BP calls a "well integrity failure." The cement plug that was supposed to seal off the well didn't actually seal. The leak allowed gas to shoot up the riser pipe and flood the rig.
The report makes a pretty good case for blaming subcontractor Halliburton for pouring a shoddy plug and failing to test it. Halliburton was in charge of formulating the cement, pouring it, and testing the cement itself to make sure it set up properly. After the accident, BP went to great lengths to expose how poorly Halliburton mixed the cement. The report notes that Halliburton failed to perform key tests and suggests that Halliburton employees may have falsified the parts of the paper trail that does exist. If only BP had paid such close attention to Halliburton's work before the disaster.
