GLOBAL CLIMATE DEBATE

MMS Records Show BP Has Previous Deepwater Violations

BP Exploration & Production, which owns the deep water rig that exploded last week in the Gulf of Mexico, was cited in 2007 for inadequately training employees in well control, according to the US Minerals Management Service.

The conditions of the training are the same as those suspected in the possible blowout aboard the TransOcean Deepwater Horizon, which left 11 workers missing and presumed dead. 

MMS slapped BP with $41,000 in fines in October 2007 after a series of violations related to a near-blowout five years earlier.  In November 2002, the Ocean King rig, operated by Diamond Offshore Drilling, in the Gulf had to evacuate all 65 of its workers for nearly two days after operators detected a dangerous rise in gas pressure.  The rig, which had been drilling at a depth of more than 5,000 feet, didn't resume work for nearly a week, according to the MMS report. 

Unlike last week's disaster, workers were able to keep the well from leaking by using cement and mud to plug the well.  The same subcontractor, Diamond Offshore, was also used when BP was fined $25,000 in 2004 for bypassing a gas detection system while drilling.  A BP spokesman in London says the company still uses Diamond Offshore as a contractor.

KEY SAFETY PROCEDURES

In the 2002 incident, the MMS said that BP and Diamond Offshore were unaware that some of the key safety procedures they used to initially stop the dangerous rise in pressure could have contributed to a blowout.  The MMS cited BP for what it called "no formal procedures" and "no written guidelines" to follow in case of an emergency.  MMS also cited BP and contract workers in the incident for what they said was a "lack of knowledge of the system, and lack of pre-event planning and procedures." 

In separate incidents, BP was also fined $75,000 in 2003 for not having adequate water pressure on one rig's fire protection system as well as another $80,000 fine for bypassing safety alarms that could have indicated dangerously high pressure, similar to what caused the near-blowout in 2002, according to MMS data.  

Fines for serious incidents, like blowouts, can often total millions of dollars.  In 2008, Pogo Producing Company was fined more than a half million dollars for a November 2006 blowout.  In that incident, oil was blown out of the flare boom and covered the rig in crude, leaving an oil slick 16 miles long and close to a mile wide. 

SAFETY AWARDS

Ironically, MMS recognized BP in 2009 and 2010 as a finalist for "outstanding safety and pollution prevention" in an industry "SAFE" award ceremony scheduled next month.  MMS figures show OCS drilling operators paid about $919,000 in fines for safety violations in 2009, down from $2.2 million in 2008 and $3.1 million in 2007, when record oil prices led to higher demand for rigs and drilling workers.  According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, many of those employees received inadequate training before working offshore on a oil drilling platform. 

The cause of the fire and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon has yet to be determined.  The rig, which sank last week after an explosion rocked the semi-submersible platform, is leaking oil at a rate of as much as 42,000 gallons a day and could take months to be shut down.  BP is attempting to drill relief wells in an effort to shut down the leak before it fouls the Louisiana coastline. 

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