Source:
New York TimesBP Kept Drilling After Report of Leak, Worker Says
By ROBBIE BROWN
Published: July 20, 2010
KENNER, La. — In the final days before the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP continued drilling for oil despite internal reports of a leak on a critical safety device on the rig, a company official testified on Tuesday.
Ronald Sepulvado, a BP well site leader, said he reported the problem to senior company officials and assumed it would be relayed to the Minerals Management Service, the federal agency that regulates offshore drilling. The leak was on a control pod connected to the blowout preventer, an emergency mechanism that failed to activate after the April 20 disaster.
“I assumed everything was O.K., because I reported it to the team leader and he should have reported it to M.M.S.,” Mr. Sepulvado said.
He could not explain why the company did not respond to his report.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/us/21hearings.html?_r=1