Coast Guard: Lax Safety Culture Caused Spill

BBC News reports:

A lax safety culture and poorly working kit aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig contributed to last year's explosion, the US Coast Guard says.

In a report on the incident, which killed 11 and caused a massive spill, the agency criticised the practices and training of rig owner Transocean.

It said equipment was poorly maintained and alarms and automatic shutdown systems did not work properly.

A Transocean spokesman on Friday rejected the findings.

In a 288-page report released just over a year after the accident, the Coast Guard found actions by Transocean and the oil rig crew hindered their ability to prevent or contain the disaster.

"Deepwater Horizon and its owner, Transocean, had serious safety management system failures and a poor safety culture," the report said.

"Collectively, this record raises serious questions whether Transocean's safety culture was a factor that contributed to the disaster."

'Lax oversight'

Transocean spokesman Brian Kennedy told the Associated Press that the Coast Guard had inspected the Deepwater Horizon seven months before the blowout and deemed it in compliance with safety standards.

"We strongly disagree with - and documentary evidence in the Coast Guard's possession refutes - key findings in this report," he said in a statement.

Overnight on 20 April 2010, Transocean's Deepwater Horizon burst into flames while drilling a well for BP.

In the months that followed, more than 200 million gallons (780 million litres) of oil flowed in the Gulf of Mexico from the well, soiling hundreds of miles of coastline in the worst US oil spill in history.

The Coast Guard also cited lax oversight by the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the nation in the Pacific where Transocean had registered the rig.

It said national regulators had effectively "abdicated" their inspection responsibilities by contracting them out to third parties.

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