Dearie me, it looks like BP could be in MORE trouble...

[seawasp]

... A variant of Rule #3 in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates would apply: 3. A safety inspector at a dead run outranks everybody.

Rumor, with some reinforcing testimony, is that the company (Schlumberger) hired to do a final inspection of the cement plug ordered BP's on-site ranking manager to kill the well because it was kicking (a behavior that you might see early on but that should DEFINITELY not be seen that far along in the process); the manager REFUSED, and the Schlumberger rep immediately asked for a helicopter out; BP refused, Schlumberger rep immediately phoned his HQ and got THEM TO FLY A HELICOPTER OUT IMMEDIATELY and took his crew off. Hours later the rig went up.

If this is substantiated, it's a Hollywood-Evil Corporation level of stupidity and greed -- the kind you see onscreen  and say to yourself, "but no one in real life would be that stupid, to deliberately ignore the ultra-expensive and competent safety consultant YOU HIRED to make sure things were safe!" Heads will be rolling from the level of the BP manager ON UP.

Ganked from autopope 

Comments

[murstein.livejournal.com]

Actually, BP has a long corporate history of ignoring industry-standard, and even their own corporate, safety rules. That's what caused the Texas City explosion. That's what caused the Alaska Pipeline leak. That's why the booms that BP was contractually required to have on hand, just in case something like the Exxon Valdez leak happened, didn't actually exist. And a bunch of other examples, that all fell into the same pattern.

[seawasp]

Which would seem to make it likely that this rumor is true, alas.

And I thought that *BRITISH* Petroleum would HAVE to be more honest, upright, and aboveboard than any American corporation, since, well, it says BRITISH!

[xyzzysqrl]

Watching such shows as Red Dwarf, Blackadder, Chef!, Top Gear, Doctor Who and Torchwood have made me quite accepting of the idea that British corporations and authoritative bodies get a big ol' glass of stupid to pass around just like...

...well, any other corporation does.

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

But -- they're now BP, rather than British Petroleum. Aren't they?

[murstein.livejournal.com]

And I thought that *BRITISH* Petroleum would HAVE to be more honest, upright, and aboveboard than any American corporation, since, well, it says BRITISH!

Never forget: The tea dumped into Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773, was property of the British East India Company, one of the first (perhaps the first?) multinational corporations.

That rumor seems to be false in many details (it was a regularly scheduled BP helicopter out, and 11 hours vs. 6 for the time from Schlumberger's people's departure until the explosion). Still, I want to hear about the core of the rumor: Did Schlumberger's people try to shut down what they considered an unsafe operation? If so, I suspect we won't hear, unless it comes up in sworn testimony in court.

[zanzjan.livejournal.com]

You know, it's funny that you say that, because this whole thing has made me realize that I *do* have a bias that way, and that while the reasons I think that way aren't rational and don't usually stand up to any serious scrutiny, there's a LOT of 'em.

[baronger.livejournal.com]

Yes rule 3 would apply in that situation.

The entire situation has become dark comedy.

[kengr]

Dunno about running safety inspectors, but there's the t-shirts that are wildly popular with Bomb Squad/EOD types (and wildly *un*popular with their bosses:

BOMB SQUAD
If you see me running, try to keep up!

[salkryn.livejournal.com]

I have a former zoomie buddy who has that shirt. Unsurprisingly, he was EOD.