The catastrophic oil spill that is still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico may be one of the defining historical moment of our children’s lifetimes. As Congressional hearings and BP investigators begin to piece together what’s happening, it’s important for us, and for our children, that we understand how this happened.
New corporate documents being released during the House hearings offer the firmest evidence yet of a series of missteps and overlooked problems that interacted with each other in unexpected ways to undermine a system that was supposed to be completely fail proof.
Key among the revelations yesterday was the reason why the primary safety mechanism that was meant to prevent this kind of accident failed. The blowout prevented apparently had a hydraulic leak and a failed battery, which probably prevented it from working as designed.
BP documents and others also indicate that abnormal pipe pressure tests should have warned workers on the rig that they had a problem with pipe integrity that might allow explosive methane gas to leak into the well.
“Significant pressure discrepancies were observed in at least two of these tests, which were conducted just hours before the explosion,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., during the hearings.
There also appears to have been a great deal of confusion surrounding the cementing process that was underway to convert the well from exploration to production. This may have led to certain safety systems that the crew was trying to make use of being out of commission.
There are still more questions than answers, and each of the companies involved seems to be trying to pass the blame, but BP has agreed to pay for the costs of the spill above and beyond the $75 million required by US law.
