by Christian Dem in NC
In an interview due to air tonight on AC360, several survivors of the Oilmageddon explosion portrayed BP, and to a lesser extent Transocean, as being disturbingly cavalier about safety. In the most disturbing part, the survivors hint at one possible cause of the disaster--a potentially catastrophic decision by BP's company man. The BP official wanted workers to replace heavy mud, used to keep the well's pressure down, with lighter seawater to help speed a process that was costing an estimated $750,000 a day and was already running five weeks late, rig survivors told CNN. BP won the argument, said Doug Brown, the rig's chief mechanic. "He basically said, 'Well, this is how it's gonna be.' " "That's what the big argument was about," added Daniel Barron III. The workers also said that despite Transocean's stated policy that even the lowliest roughneck has stop-work authority, voicing safety concerns was a firing offense. For instance, Transocean once ordered a crane to keep operating despite high winds.
continued at Daily Kos....
