The BP SOP seems to have been ignore warnings and keep costs as limited as possible. Whether it was their outsourcing of the the failed safety device to China or failing to properly report problems to MMS as we are now hearing, BP showed little regard for the negative impact of their actions. Every business is trying to make money but BP consistently has shown little interest in what is best for the safety of its people and the environment. Their cost cutting is now turning out to be a lot more expensive than those costly safety precautions. Regulations are so expensive, aren't they?
Ronald Sepulvado, a BP well site leader, said he had reported a leak on a critical safety device at the rig to more senior company officials, but it seemed his warnings had not been passed on to the government regulating body, the Minerals Management Service.
"I assumed everything was OK, because I reported it to the team leader and he should have reported it to the MMS," he told the hearing. The leak was on a control pod connected to the blowout preventer on the rig, whose failure proved critical in causing the disaster.
A congressional committee in Washington heard testimony from Gale Norton, interior secretary under former president George W Bush. Norton said BP had ignored rules put in place in 2003. "If regulations on the books and industry best practices had been followed properly, there might not have been a blowout," she said. "It appears that BP violated all those regulations that were on the books."
