Bush admin skipped re-cert process for the first blown-up well

[captain_kook]

HOUSTON -- A critical device at the center of an investigation into the Gulf oil rig explosion didn't undergo a rigorous recertification process in 2005 as required by federal regulators, a worker responsible for maintaining the equipment told investigators Wednesday.
 
 
Mark Hay of rig owner Transocean said the blowout preventer -- designed to prevent a spill after an explosion -- was not recertified because it was being constantly maintained. Recertifying the five-story device requires completely disassembling it out of the water and can take as long as three months.
 
 
The device -- which may be lifted from the seafloor a mile below the water's surface in the coming days -- failed after the rig explosion. After the blowout, some 206 million gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf until mid-July, when a temporary cap stopped the flow. A permanent fix is expected to be in place after Labor Day.
 
The blowout preventer will be key to the investigation into the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 people and caused the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/08/25/2425549/blowout-preventer-on-oil-rig-was.html#ixzz0yO3is3ty

[Thomasj_tx]

If it was supposed to be re-certified on a a three- to five-year timetable, why was it not re-certified in 2009 when it was permitted to drill in that location?

[Truman62]

I KNEW it was bush's fault!!!!

[captain_kook]

for thomas, from the article:
 

Testimony from BP and Transocean officials showed that the device had not been recertified according to a three- to five-year timetable laid out by federal regulators; that repairs were not always authorized by the manufacturer, Cameron; and that in the days after the explosion, confusion reigned about changes to the equipment, delaying attempts to close the well.
 
 
The device underwent tests before the blowout to ensure that it was working, Hay told the joint investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
 
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/08/25/2425549/blowout-preventer-on-oil-rig-was.html#ixzz0yO5wNVTd

[Thomasj_tx]

I read the article.
 
If it was not re-certified in 2005, and was on a 3 to 5 year re-certification schedule, why was it not re-certified in 2009 when it received its permit to drill?
 
 

[captain_kook]

uh Thomas - it was never ON a 3-to-5 year schedule:
 
 
Testimony from BP and Transocean officials showed that the device had not been recertified according to a three- to five-year timetable laid out by federal regulators; that repairs were not always authorized by the manufacturer, Cameron; and that in the days after the explosion, confusion reigned about changes to the equipment, delaying attempts to close the well.
 
because the Bush Admin did not enforce the Federal laws
 
 
 and the same Bush appointees were still at the agency when they approved operations in 2009

[Thomasj_tx]

 

the same Bush apppointees were still at the agency

Bull crap. 

[sweetwater5s9]

Everything BP did on that rig was regulated and approved by the MMS. With hundreds of safety violations already against BP, why didn’t MMS or Congress speak up and investigate this before the drilling was done under a record 5000 feet of water?
 
As Stupak gaveled down for a recess, Burgess again brought up his request for the MMS to be present at the hearing. Stupak didn’t want to hear it. He immediately interrupted, shoved it under the rug, and recessed the hearings. He seemed quite upset that anyone on the panel would even suggest that questions be asked of Obama’s MMS department.
 
Obama's MMS gave the oil well approval.

[13.99]

As always the Buck Stops....with Bush.  Lets see how the second one is spun!

[Thomasj_tx]

As Stupak gaveled down for a recess, Burgess again brought up his request for the MMS to be present at the hearing. Stupak didn’t want to hear it. He immediately interrupted, shoved it under the rug, and recessed the hearings. He seemed quite upset that anyone on the panel would even suggest that questions be asked of Obama’s MMS department.

Obama's MMS gave the oil well approval.

I was watching the hearings when Stupak was asked about a hearing eith MMS and other government officials.  He said that he would have those hearings, but obviously has not.  I sent his office an e-mail about 7 or 8 weeks ago asking when he was going to have those hearings and to date, have not received a reply.

[captain_kook]

"Bull crap"

Is that your new default response when you have nothing to back you up?

It's true - that agency - the Minerals Management Services - was still filled with Bush-era appointees in 2009

and we now know that some of them were on the take from the industry - wait for the criminal indictments.


THAT'S why the Obama admin removed responsiblity for ocean oil rigs from that agency


Culture shock: Michael Bromwich, head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy -- the agency formerly known as the infamous Minerals Management Services -- sent an email to his employees laying out new rules for doing business.

No more winks and back-scratching, no more revolving door between the regulators and the regulated, and no more inspections on companies where family members or close personal friends work. Oh, and definitely no more sex and drug parties. That sounds righteous and all, but Bromwich's policies have a long legacy to overcome. As Stephen Power, writing in the Wall Street Journal, notes:
 
Rig workers and agency employees in the Gulf Coast "have often known one another since childhood," according to a report published earlier this year by the Interior Department's inspector general. The same report found that at one agency office in Louisiana, employees accepted sporting-event tickets, lunches, and other gifts earlier this decade from oil and natural-gas companies.
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-09-01-feds-clean-up-their-act-gulf-oil-inspectors/
 

[13.99]

Title should have read: Bush and Obama admins failed to re...............