A lot went wrong at oil rig, evidence shows.lost across the sea
A House energy panel investigation has found that the blowout preventer that failed to stop a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had a dead battery in its control pod, leaks in its hydraulic system, a useless’’ test version of a key component, and a cutting tool that was not strong enough to shear through steel joints in the well pipe and stop the flow of oil.
In a devastating review of the blowout preventer, which BP said was supposed to be fail-safe,’’ Representative Bart Stupak, Michigan Democrat and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on oversight, said yesterday that documents and interviews show that the device was anything but.
The comments came in a hearing in which lawmakers grilled senior executives from BP and oil field service firms Transocean, Halliburton, and Cameron, the maker of the blowout preventer.
In one exchange, Representative Edward Markey, Massachusetts Democrat, pressed BP on why it seemed to be flailing’’ to deal with a spill only 2 percent as large as what it had said it could handle in its license application.
The American people expect you to have a response comparable to the Apollo project, not ‘Project Runway,’ ’’ Markey said.
Steven Newman, chief executive of Transocean, said the blowout preventer underwent regular tests. He said links to the drilling rig would have indicated if the device’s batteries were dead, though he said data records were lost when the rig sank.
It was the second day of congressional hearings in response to the April 20 blowout that set fire to Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which later sank, killing 11 people and triggering the oil spill that now threatens wildlife and livelihoods along the Gulf Coast.
So far, 25 birds have been found oiled’’ in Louisiana, including seven that survived, said Sharon Taylor of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, she said 87 sea turtles and six dolphins have been found dead, though lab tests will be needed to determine whether they died from oil or other causes.
Oil is still pouring into the gulf as federal agencies investigate the cause of the accident.
Yesterday, BP released the first video of the primary leak on the muddy sea floor, 5,000 feet deep. The photos show a dark, frothy plume of oil mixed with a lighter-colored substance that officials did not describe but specialists said is natural gas.
The video has been sought by experts who say it might help them measure the size of the leak. BP’s initial estimate was 1,000 barrels a day, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration later put it at roughly 5,000 barrels a day. That flow rate looks pretty much the same as its always looked,’’ Doug Suttles, BP chief operating officer, said after showing reporters the clip.
In an effort to contain the leak, BP said yesterday that it had lowered a new steel structure into the water near the damaged well to prepare for a second attempt at funneling some of the oil into a pipeline and onto a ship. An earlier attempt was foiled by slush-like gas hydrates — combinations of seawater and natural gas from the well — that quickly clogged an opening in a larger steel box.
The blowout preventer was supposed to be the last line of defense against the type of spill spreading across the Gulf of Mexico. Stupak said that the device’s manufacturer, Cameron, told committee staffers that the leak in the hydraulic system, which was supposed to provide emergency power to the rams that should have severed the drill pipe and closed the well, probably predated the accident because other parts were intact.
Hacer un trackball para esta entrada
RSS feed Comments
