Anderson Cooper & Ken Abbott (B.P. Whistleblower) Discuss Atlantis, B.P.'s Other Ticking Time Bomb

[Turborama]

Run time: 03:53 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC1MmMM60HM   Posted on YouTube: June 18, 2010 By YouTube Member: MOXNEWSd0tCOM Views on YouTube: 13   Posted on DU: June 18, 2010 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 1154

 
COOPER: The deepwater horizon disaster wasn't the only focus on Capitol Hill today. Lawmakers also heard testimony about another Gulf Coast, potential catastrophe. This is according to a whistleblower, Ken Abbott, a former consultant on the Atlantis which is another BP rig. It's a deep sea rig. It's 190 miles or so off of the Louisiana Coast. It's a huge rig, really deep well. Abbott claims the rig is operating without crucial engineering plans and dangerous cost cutting measure, he says, and another example of what he says is BP's quote, "widespread disregard for safety". BP denies his allegations. We'll have their side of it as well. I spoke with Ken Abbott in Washington just minutes after he testified today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Ken, you're basically saying that the Atlantis rig which is a BP oil rig in the Gulf, producing far more oil than the deepwater horizon did, is unsafe, correct?

KEN ABBOTT, FORMER BP ATLANTIS CONTRACTOR: The drawings were not completed properly which is going to cause problems with the operators being able to operate the rig safely on an ongoing basis. And because of the size of the Atlantis, four to five times the output of the deepwater, any failure there could be four to five times the problem that we have with the deepwater.

COOPER: So, when did you first bring the problems to BP and what did they say? How did they respond?

ABBOTT: You know, Anderson, what really bothers me is that I've seen -- I tried for a year and a half to get this problem fixed. I knew from my experience as a project controls engineer that this was a deadly recipe for problems and for catastrophic errors, and it just didn't happen. The management tone there was, you know, let's take the shortcut. Let's do the engineering as fast as we can and forget about the normal things you should do.

COOPER: And this rig is still operating this whole time. MMS was out inspecting the rigs, and they didn't manage to find any of this. In fact, BP says that MMS gave them a safety award. What's your feeling about MMS's performance in all of this? Do you think they were just rubber stamping whatever BP wanted them to?

ABBOTT: Exactly, Anderson. I think they were very negligent in their enforcement in regulation of BP on the Atlantis project. You know, we tried for a year and a half, my attorney and I both, to get the MMS to take notice. They're just not checking these drawings at all, OK? And they should be. That's their, you know, requirement.

COOPER: BP addressed your concerns in January in a letter to congressional investigators and they say that your allegations are unfounded and that the Atlantis platform had final documentation in place before it started operating.

ABBOTT: And my answer to that would be that when that Attorney Westall wrote that letter in January, she deceived Congress. I think at BP, you have this two-faced problem. You have the public face, you know, with the Tony Hayward's going out and saying everything is OK, and the pr groups and attorneys. You know, three weeks ago, Tony wrote a letter to his people saying everything was fine there from the get-go, from the date we started and it's still fine. And three weeks ago, Judge Sparcan (ph) did an AP interview which was done with Noaki Schwartz (ph) and he said it's done, it was never done and it's still not done. COOPER: And, as you said, you raised red flags about the Atlantis last year. The government has known about the allegations you've been making for months now. The platform is still operating while they're investigating. Based on what you know, what you believe, should the Atlantis be in operation right now?

ABBOTT: I think they need to shut that rig down, Anderson. They need to go out there. It's very simple to check to see if the drawings are done. You know, all this stuff is electronic on the database. They're not doing that and they should.

COOPER: Kenneth Abbott, appreciate your time. Ken, thanks.

ABBOTT: You're welcome, Anderson.

IT GETS WORSE: Former Contractor Says BP Never Received Federal Approval At ANOTHER Gulf Rig

Gus Lubin | Jun. 17, 2010


BP Atlantis

Suddenly regulators are paying more attention to a former BP worker who has been complaining since 2009 that his company did not get approval on engineering plans, according to WaPo.

Kenneth Abbott testified at hearings today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/17/AR2010061703872.html">WaPo:

"The overwhelming majority of documents and drawings had never received any engineering approval at any phase of development," Kenneth W. Abbott, who was fired in February 2009, says in testimony prepared for delivery Thursday to a House subcommittee.

Although MMS and BP have previously dismissed Abbott's claims, now both organizations have lost a lot of credibility.

As the BP Atlantis could face a new examination, so could dozens of BP rigs that Tony Hayward said were drilled with the same procedures used with the Deepwater Horizon.

From: http://www.businessinsider.com/former-worker-says-bp-never-received-mms-approval-at-another-gulf-rig-2010-6

[dgibby]

1. That rig needs to be shut down and inspected properly.

These greedy bastards are not going to be happy until we're all dead.