On Sun, 02 May 2010 18:13:13 -0500, F. George McDuffee
wrote:
On Sat, 01 May 2010 22:37:30 -0700, Gunner Asch
wrote:
snip
Ive worked in and around the oil fields for many years, and frankly I
cannot imagine in my worst moments, any oil company NOT using a BOP in
any drilling operation of this sort. Frankly..they are far far too
critical for even minor "kicks" and all manner of other uses while
drilling a well.
snip
In a rational world this would indeed appear to be the case,
however there were several layers of
contractors/subcontractors, etc. involved, and some of the
individual management may have been involved in some sort of
kickback/false invoice scheme to bill for a BOP [some cost
estimates are 500k$US for basic device, higher for deep sea
in-place (c. 5,000 feet)] and several hundred thousand $
more each for back-up and redundant/emergency cutoff valves,
which were never installed, or were salvage repaints.
If there is a buck to be skimmed, there will be people
standing in line to do it. The same thing holds true for
coalmines. Far more expensive to have an explosion or roof
collapse than to provide adequate ventilation or roof
supports. Another example is the use of sub-standard or
counterfeit aircraft components.
FWIW -- Pres. Obama should issue a directive ASAP to the DoJ
to treat this as a crime scene with 11 likely counts of
negligent homicide, possibly morphing into 11 counts of
felony murder, if it can be shown the deaths occurred as the
result of or during the commission of a crime. Also issue a
directive to Homeland Security to treat this as a national
security breach until determined otherwise. From a strictly
economic standpoint, this has the potential to be far more
costly and long-term that 9-11.
All corporations involved should be prevented from
transferring funds and/or any records outside US
jurisdiction, destroying any records [under threat of
"obstruction of justice" charges], and company executives
(and other employees that might be involved or have
knowledge) should be prevented from leaving US jurisdiction
without permission.
All materials recovered, especially the BOP and emergency
cutoff valves, should be impounded and kept under guard at a
federal facility pending complete inspection/evaluation.
The NTSB, because of their expertise in accident
reconstruction is suggested as the initial lead
investigative agency with the closest and continuous
cooperation/liaison with OSHA, BATF, FBI, IRS [follow the
money], and other DoJ agencies including the U.S. Attorneys
Office for the regions involved.
Of course, but....do you think that a rig is spudded in, without a full
and complete checkout by various agencies?
A little basic info...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowout_preventer
And then the meat....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uscgd8/4552485336/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uscgd8/4551846015/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uscgd8/4560777718/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uscgd8/4549418892/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uscgd8/4549418588/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uscgd8/4542967408/
Ayup...pretty much shows that they had a BOP installed.
Didnt work however.
And no..there is no such thing as a Dummy BOP
"First Law of Leftist Debate
The more you present a leftist with factual evidence
that is counter to his preconceived world view and the
more difficult it becomes for him to refute it without
losing face the chance of him calling you a racist, bigot,
homophobe approaches infinity.
This is despite the thread you are in having not mentioned
race or sexual preference in any way that is relevant to
the subject." Grey Ghost