deepwater horizon - a reminder for earth day 2016

Deepwater HorizonA Reminder for Earth Day 2016

A costly incident…

▪ On 20 April 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf

of Mexico. 11 workers were killed and 3.19 million barrels of oil were released

▪ In September 2014, the civil trial found BP primarily responsible for the incident

▪ On 2 July 2015, BP reached a settlement with the U.S. government of $ 18.7 billion –

the largest corporate settlement in U.S. history. BP has claimed that its pre-tax charge

for the spill stands at $ 53.8 billion

What follows is a selection of quotes from the first three months of the incident

APRIL 20

http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/06/07/quotes-jimmy-harrell-on-deepwater-horizon-explosion/

“The rig's on fire! I told you this was gonna happen.“

Installation manager for the Deepwater Horizon, allegedly shouting after the explosion that eventually sunk the rig and started the oil spill

APRIL 21


“The incident occurred April 20, 2010 at approximately 10 p.m. central time in

the United States Gulf of Mexico. ... The cause of the fire and explosion is

unknown at this time. An investigation into the cause of the incident and

assessment of the damage will be ongoing in the days or weeks to come”.

First statement from Deepwater Horizon rig owner Transocean

APRIL 23


“I don't honestly think it opens up a whole new series of questions,

because, you know, in all honesty I doubt this is the first accident

that has happened and I doubt it will be the last”.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

MAY 11

“There's not somewhere on a dock in Annapolis a secret submarine that will fix this leak. I don't mean that to be funny. I mean that it is - the president has asked that everything in our power be done. Everything in our power is being done. The frustration that the president has is that, despite all of that, and despite the efforts of others, there still continues to be a very large oil leak”.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

MAY 14

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/bp-gulf-oil-spill-timeline-through-quotes/19500504

“The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and

dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume”

Tony Hayward, CEO of BP


MAY 27

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)


“You know, when I woke up this morning and I'm shaving, and Malia knocks

on my bathroom door and she peeks in her head and she says, “Did you plug

the hole yet Daddy?” In case you're wondering who's responsible, I take

responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this

down”.

President Obama


MAY 30

“We're sorry for the massive disruption it's caused their lives. There's no one

who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back”.

Tony Hayward, CEO of BP

(CHERYL GERBER/AFP/Getty Images)



JUNE 15

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-15/bp-raised-risks-at-nightmare-well-lawmakers-say-update1-.html

“Time after time, it appears that BP made decisions that increased the risk of

a blowout to save the company time or expense”.

U.S. Representatives Henry Waxman of California and Bart Stupak of

Michigan

JUNE 17

“I was not aware of any decisions being made about the well while it was being

drilled," Hayward said.

"The best minds and most senior people should be paying attention to those

decisions,"

Rep. Mike Doyle (D–Penn.)

(AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=congress-hammers-bp-ceo-for-dodging-2010-06-17

deepwater horizon - a reminder for earth day 2016

Environment