Before explosion, BP was warned to slow down

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Before explosion, BP was warned to slow down
By Ashley Powers
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 26, 2010 | 1:20 p.m.

Hours before the fatal accident that sunk the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, Transocean workers quarreled with BP officials who wanted to go ahead and finish the job despite earlier problems, a rig mechanic told a U.S. Coast Guard investigatory committee Wednesday.

Douglas Brown, the rig's chief mechanic, testified that three Transocean officials balked at the desire of a BP "company man" to go ahead with a process to clear the riser with seawater. The riser is the connector pipe between the rig and well, and this would have been a final step to finish the exploratory drilling job BP had hired Transocean to complete.

"There was a slight argument took place … the company man was saying, 'This is how it's going to be,' " said Brown, who could not identify the BP official.

After the mid-morning meeting, Brown said, Transocean specialist Jimmy Harrell grumbled, "Well, I guess that's what we have those 'pinchers' for" – apparently referring to the shear rams on the blowout preventer on the sea floor, an emergency device used only when all other means of controlling the oil well have failed. Brown's account suggests Harrell thought BP was taking a grave risk.



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