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Dec 6th, 2017
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Joined: Dec 2005
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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A very dramatic article from the WSJ that tells the story of panic on the oil rig before sinking There Was 'Nobody in Charge'
Andrea Fleytas, a 23-year-old worker who helped operate the rig's sophisticated navigation machinery, suddenly noticed a glaring oversight: No one had issued a distress signal to the outside world, she recalls in an interview. Ms. Fleytas grabbed the radio and began calling over a signal monitored by the Coast Guard and other vessels.
"Mayday, Mayday. This is Deepwater Horizon. We have an uncontrollable fire."
When Capt. Kuchta realized what she had done, he reprimanded her, she says.
"I didn't give you authority to do that," he said, according to Ms. Fleytas, who says she responded: "I'm sorry."
"It's not a lie if you believe it." -- George Costanza
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. --Bertrand Russel
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veteran
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veteran
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I am beyond shock and awe on BP's actions. Their bribes right after the fact said a lot about how really bad this event was.
"There was never a good war or a bad peace."
Benjamin Franklin
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Aside from all else, the indirect evidence from the article that I linked to makes it clear that it would be difficult for anyone to actually shut down the well in an emergency... apparently the system is set up with a bias to insure that there will never be a case where the well is shutdown in any situation that might later be found unnecessary.... apparently attempting to exclude potential financial loss from over cautious safety related shutdowns.
"It's not a lie if you believe it." -- George Costanza
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. --Bertrand Russel
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
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A team of top federal prosecutors and investigators has taken the first steps toward a formal criminal investigation into oil giant BP's actions before and after the drilling rig disaster off Louisiana.
The investigators, who have been quietly gathering evidence in Louisiana over the last three weeks, are focusing on whether BP skirted federal safety regulations and misled the U.S. government by saying it could quickly clean up an environmental accident.
The team has met with U.S. attorneys and state officials in the Gulf Coast region and has sent letters to executives of BP and Transocean Ltd., the drilling rig owner, warning them against destroying documents or other internal records.
Life is a banquet -- and most poor suckers are starving to death -- Auntie Mame
You are born naked and everything else is drag - RuPaul
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Joined: May 2005
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Member CHB-OG
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Member CHB-OG
Joined: May 2005
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I am beyond shock and awe on BP's actions. Their bribes right after the fact said a lot about how really bad this event was. Since January of 2008, BP lobbyists have spent $30 million to influence legislation, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The 17th-ranked lobbying company in 2009, it has also nearly doubled its percentage of campaign contributions to Democrats, from a low of 22 percent 1996 to 43 percent today. President Obama was the largest recipient of campaign contributions from BP employees in 2008, at $71,000. Boston Globe.com ...seems the 'multi-tasked one' benefited from BPs contributions to beat Hillary and John.
Contrarian, extraordinaire
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Member CHB-OG
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Member CHB-OG
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...apparently the system is set up with a bias to insure that there will never be a case where the well is shutdown in any situation that might later be found unnecessary.... apparently attempting to exclude potential financial loss from over cautious safety related shutdowns. The 60 Minutes story from a few weeks ago showed that a rubber gasket was the first to fail a full month before the accident. Transocean told its crew to ignore the problem and to keep working under pressure from BP to get that oil out of the ground because BP had already lost $200m plus when the Deep Horizon drilled into sand and had to be repositioned.
Contrarian, extraordinaire
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Admin Emeritus old hand
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Admin Emeritus old hand
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One of the things I remember reading in some article was that the rig had regular emergency drills where they practiced assembling at the lifeboats to board and lower them. Problem was that they always practiced at exactly the same time.. Sunday AM. Never in the middle of a stormy night.
Random practice drills are necessary to train automatic responses into people in the event of a real emergency. Obviously, they never reached that sort of discipline. No doubt the "drills" were carried out in such a way as to check a box on some OSHA chart.
SkyHawk
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
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Administrator Bionic Scribe
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Rick, almost all corporations spray contributions across the political spectrum but concentrate on whomever they expect to win a particular contest.
Not to deny that BP's contributions had an effect on the issues. Just some perspective.
Life is a banquet -- and most poor suckers are starving to death -- Auntie Mame
You are born naked and everything else is drag - RuPaul
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Rick, almost all corporations spray contributions across the political spectrum but concentrate on whomever they expect to win a particular contest.
Not to deny that BP's contributions had an effect on the issues. Just some perspective. Yeah, no matter who was elected, I am sure there would have been a money trail leading back to BP. And when you think about it, it makes sense. The corporate strategy really does not care which politicians (or political party) may win a specific election; they are all about exerting their influence no matter who wins.
"It's not a lie if you believe it." -- George Costanza
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. --Bertrand Russel
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 47,286 Likes: 351
Member CHB-OG
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Member CHB-OG
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And when you think about it, it makes sense. The corporate strategy really does not care which politicians (or political party) may win a specific election; they are all about exerting their influence no matter who wins. Absolutely! 
Contrarian, extraordinaire
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