BP spill trial told it 'put profits over safety'

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

25 February 2013 Last updated at 19:12 GMT

BP spill trial told it 'put profits over safety'

BP has been accused of putting profits before safety on the first day of a trial in New Orleans over liability for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The accusation came from the lawyer acting for the plaintiffs' steering committee, which represents thousands of businesses and individuals.

He told US District Judge, Carl Barbier, that BP executives were most focused on cost-cutting.

The trial could result in the biggest civil fine in history of up to $17.6bn.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21548117

[Eugene]

1. Deepwater trial: US lawyers say BP ignored warnings on 'well from hell'

Source: The Guardian

Deepwater trial: US lawyers say BP ignored warnings on 'well from hell'

Dominic Rushe in New Orleans
The Guardian, Monday 25 February 2013 22.38 GMT

The man in charge of BP's ill-fated Deepwater Horizon rig warned his boss that staff were operating in "chaos, paranoia and insanity" just days before a fatal blowout killed 11 men and caused the worst oil spill in US history, a New Orleans court heard on Monday.

In opening arguments Michael Underhill, the lawyer representing the US Department of Justice, said BP knew it was drilling a "well from hell" but that its managers refused to deviate from a "course of corporate recklessness" that ultimately led to the fatal blowout at the Gulf of Mexico well.

In a difficult day for BP, Underhill was followed by statements from BP's partners in the fatal rig, Transocean and Halliburton, who also slammed BP. The dead rig workers "put too much trust in BP and paid for that trust with their lives," said Transocean attorney Brad Brian.

The company was guilty of "willful misconduct," said Underhill. It had calculated it needed $7bn (£4.6bn) to pay shareholders their dividend and put immense pressure on staff to save money and drill faster in order to reach that target, he said. "A safety corner cut a day saved was a $1m saved for BP," said Underhill.

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/25/deepwater-trial-justice-bp-warnings

[Cleita]

2. Some weird stuff coming out of that trial. Like the supervisor who went to dance practice when

warned about the operation not succeeding;

http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB10001424052748704680604576110373593483008,00.html

Just days before the Deepwater Horizon exploded, the onshore BP BP -3.42% PLC manager in charge of the drilling rig warned his supervisor that last-minute procedural changes were creating "chaos" on the rig.

"The operation is not going to succeed if we continue in this manner," wrote John Guide, who directed the Deepwater Horizon's operations from BP's Houston offices.

His supervisor, David Sims, told him to tell rig workers "to hang in there." Then Mr. Sims signed off to attend a dance practice, promising to call later in the day: "We're dancing to the Village People!" he wrote.

In a follow-up email that evening, Mr. Guide appeared mollified. "I totally concur," Mr. Guide wrote back. "I told them all we will work through it together. I want to do better."

Three days later, the rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and setting off the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Investigators have cited confusion over changes at the well in the preceding weeks as a key cause of the accident.

[handmade34]

3. uhhh

nature of corporations... ALWAYS profit over safety, health, well-being, health of the environment, etc... this corrupt capitalistic system has created the monsters...

[dtom67]

4. of course...

aren't Corporations required to do this by Law?