FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2010
KLMNO
EZ RE
Politics & The Nation BP official questioned about who had final responsibility in drilling work
BY JOEL ACHENBACH AND DAVID S.HILZENRATH
houston — Federal investiga- torsonThursdaygrilledBPSenior Vice President Kent Wells on the company’s history of safety prob- lems in the Gulf of Mexico and demandedmore clarity onwho at the company isultimately respon- sible,andaccountable, fordrilling operations. Investigators citeda2003letter
toWells fromthe federalMinerals Management Service that blasted BPfor “incompleteplanning,poor communication,
insufficient
knowledge or training, and a lack of effective supervision.” Wells, who has been a promi-
nent company spokesman for the technical response to theMacon- do gusher, defended BP’s safety culture. “Wedon’t jeopardizesafe- ty for cost,” he testified. The investigators for the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (the successor agency to MMS), who have been searching for the cause of the April 20 Deepwater Horizon di- saster, did not appear convinced. Capt.HungNguyen, theboard’s
co-chairman, cited the 2003 inci- dents, a 2005 explosion at a BP facility in Texas City, Tex., that killed 15 workers, and the Deep- waterHorizon blowout, and said, “That tellsmethere’satrendthere about the safety culture ofBP.”
Wells said the company re-
formed safety practices after the earlier incidents. For months the investigators
have been concerned that it is unclear who was in charge of the Deepwater Horizon in the days and hours leading up to the April 20 explosion. Nguyen asked Wells who has
“total awareness andaccountabil- ity” for safe operations. Wells said, “We try to have ev- erybody focused on safe opera-
tions. . . . We want everybody’s head in the game.” Nguyen shot back: “If every-
body’s in charge, nobody’s in charge, is that correct?” Wells said he disagreed. Wells was followed at the wit-
ness table by David Sims, a BP manager who was visiting the rig when the blowout occurred. Sims gave testimony and was
presented with internal BP docu- ments that added to the contro- versy surrounding decisions in
the endgame of thedrilling opera- tion. Sims said he did not knowthat
reports from Halliburton con- tained a disclosure about the risk of gas flowing into the well. A Halliburtonsimulationof theMa- condo well two days before the explosionwarned of the potential for a severe gas flowproblem.
achenbachj@washpost.com hilzenrathd@washpost.com
Hilzenrath reported fromWashington.
A9
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