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BP oil spill: failed safety device on Deepwater Horizon rig was modified in China
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/18/deepwater-horizon-blow-out-preventer-china?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter ^

Posted on 07/17/2010 10:12:09 PM PDT by Orange1998

BP ordered the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, whose explosion led to the worst environmental disaster in US history, to overhaul a crucial piece of the rig's safety equipment in China, the Observer has learnt. The blow-out preventer – the last line of defence against an out-of-control well – subsequently failed to activate and is at the centre of investigations into what caused the disaster.

Experts say that the practice of having such engineering work carried out in China, rather than the US, saves money and is common in the industry.

This weekend BP remained cautiously optimistic that the cap placed on top of the Gulf of Mexico well on Thursday night would continue to hold back the torrent of oil. It is the first time the flow has been stopped since the accident happened almost three months ago. But BP said that the pressure readings from the Macondo well were not as high as it had hoped, which could indicate that it has ruptured and that oil could be leaking out somewhere else.

There is no evidence that the significant modifications to the blowout preventer (BOP), which were carried out in China in 2005, caused the equipment to fail. But industry lawyers said BP could be made liable for any mistakes that a Chinese subcontractor made carrying out the work. It would be almost impossible to secure damages in China, where international law is barely recognised.

(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bp
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Cutting corners and saving a buck or two. Geez.

(Blow-out preventer was sent to Far East at BP's request rather than overhauled in US)

1 posted on 07/17/2010 10:12:14 PM PDT by Orange1998
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To: Orange1998
Experts say that the practice of having such engineering work carried out in China, rather than the US, saves money and is common in the industry.

When Clinton and, to a lesser extent, Bush were aiding and abetting the transfer of significant pieces of our manufacturing base to China, many said that there was no need to worry, it was only cheap electronics and plastic toys, and that China will never be able to capture higher end manufacturing or engineering work.

2 posted on 07/17/2010 10:17:49 PM PDT by SirJohnBarleycorn
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To: Orange1998

Expect more of this as the outsourcing chickens come home to roost in the worst possible way. We haven’t yet seen the downside of trusting lives to poor Chinese quality but we will in cars, planes, and other things where a back to the drawing board approach just doesn’t cut it.


3 posted on 07/17/2010 10:19:16 PM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult
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To: SirJohnBarleycorn

I was wondering early on if there was A China connection. I was thinking along the lines of maybe some defective cement. Nothing much good comes out of China.


4 posted on 07/17/2010 10:19:51 PM PDT by Enterprise (As a disaster unfolds, a putz putts.)
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To: Orange1998

How about an executive order from the boy king forbidding all further purchases of safety related products from China. Obama had no qualms about shutting down drilling. How about shutting down China trade?


5 posted on 07/17/2010 10:21:33 PM PDT by Enterprise (As a disaster unfolds, a putz putts.)
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To: Orange1998

Over Hill
Over Dale
Chinese BOP
Will Ever Fail ...


6 posted on 07/17/2010 10:22:49 PM PDT by Lmo56
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To: Orange1998

unbelieveable ...


7 posted on 07/17/2010 10:23:59 PM PDT by Patton@Bastogne
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To: SirJohnBarleycorn

“When Clinton and, to a lesser extent, Bush were aiding and abetting the transfer of significant pieces of our manufacturing base to China, ...... “


Was that when Clinton was telling us that we were a tech society and that we were going to train the 60 year old textile worker how to use computers. These tech jobs are much better paying jobs ... yada .... yada .... this was soon before the tech stocks’ bubble burst.

This is just another example of them selling this nation down the river.


8 posted on 07/17/2010 10:29:13 PM PDT by boycott (CAL)
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To: Orange1998
Aren't the Chinese buying the rights to produce oil off of Cuba?

Things that make you go hmmmm...

9 posted on 07/17/2010 10:30:16 PM PDT by Trailerpark Badass (I'd rather take my chances with someone misusing freedom than someone misusing power.)
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To: Orange1998
President Obama said that it was too early to say if the well had been permanently fixed.

This *infuriates* me. How the heck would he know? It's not like he said "Well my advisors on this issue say..." No, he acts like *he* knows. I know he has to project a certain image, but my problem is that I think the guy is a dope (yes I really wrote that) so every time he spews on a complicated, technical issue it drives me nuts.

Geez

Sorry for the rant.

10 posted on 07/17/2010 10:34:34 PM PDT by Felis_irritable
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To: Orange1998

Not the fault of the BOP but rather the fault of the BP people who pulled the mud out of the hole.


11 posted on 07/17/2010 10:34:57 PM PDT by trumandogz
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To: Orange1998

Waiting for the libertarians to chime in and say how great it was that BP could outsource their repairs and upgrades to China. Free trade you know.

Of course, no doubt some will also say it was a travesty that BP was forced by unreasonable government regulations to install such a device in the first place.


12 posted on 07/17/2010 10:38:43 PM PDT by InABunkerUnderSF (Anyone who has read Roman history knows a barbarian invasion when they see one.)
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To: Orange1998

The toys we buy for our children, the planes we fly in, the brakes in our cars and the heart valves that keep us alive. All compromised for a few dollars. I shake my head in disgust.


13 posted on 07/17/2010 10:39:07 PM PDT by Last Dakotan
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To: Orange1998
But industry lawyers said BP could be made liable for any mistakes that a Chinese subcontractor made carrying out the work. It would be almost impossible to secure damages in China, where international law is barely recognised.

Between suing home based business for Chinese Failure and regulating home business to flee to China, we create an environmental outcome the greenies promised to prevent. Yet the greenies will not step up and take responsibility. The dopes we call our friends are blind to this political state.

14 posted on 07/17/2010 10:41:02 PM PDT by LoneRangerMassachusetts
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To: Orange1998
But industry lawyers said BP could be made liable for any mistakes that a Chinese subcontractor made carrying out the work. It would be almost impossible to secure damages in China, where international law is barely recognised.

Between suing home based business for Chinese Failure and regulating home business to flee to China, we create an environmental outcome the greenies promised to prevent. Yet the greenies will not step up and take responsibility. The dopes we call our friends are blind to this political state.

15 posted on 07/17/2010 10:41:05 PM PDT by LoneRangerMassachusetts
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To: Orange1998

BP should sue China for the total dollar amount for all damages caused to the Gulf region. “F” China... They got this BOP for maintenance and thought it was going on sale at Wal-Mart.


16 posted on 07/17/2010 10:50:02 PM PDT by historyrepeatz
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To: Orange1998
Don't believe a word of this stuff.

The BOP was not designed to go that deep. That comes from the person who designed the thing. BP is the sole entity responsible for this mess and DO NOT buy into any BS they will float in the media.
17 posted on 07/17/2010 10:50:43 PM PDT by grapeape (Don't rally around BP. They are endagering the rest of the oil industry.)
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To: Orange1998

When I was Chief Mechanical Officer for a shortline railroad, our steam locomotive was out-of-service for a routine reflue/retube. I demanded that cheap junk Chinese tubes not be used for the work... I left the company before the tubes were purchased, and seriously doubt my stance on the matter was considered. I hope that Chinese chicken doesn’t come home to roost. I’d be able to hear the boiler explosion from where I live.


18 posted on 07/17/2010 10:54:39 PM PDT by Rodamala
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To: Orange1998
Experts say that the practice of having such engineering work carried out in China, rather than the US, saves money and is common in the industry.

Chyea. Nothing like having regulated and taxed industry out of business in the good-ole-US, is there?

19 posted on 07/17/2010 10:55:47 PM PDT by Sarajevo (You're jealous because the voices only talk to me.)
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To: trumandogz
Not the fault of the BOP but rather the fault of the BP people who pulled the mud out of the hole.

I think it's like we used to say: multifactorial causation. Several factors at play.

20 posted on 07/17/2010 11:17:39 PM PDT by steve86 (Acerbic by nature, not nurture)
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