US senator likens oil spill to Titanic as hearings open (Gasbags grill BP execs, invoke Challenger)

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 5/11/10 | Olivier Knox

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A leading US senator blamed "a cascade of failures" Tuesday for a disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill and likened the crisis to the sinking of the Titanic and space shuttle Challenger explosion.

Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman, leading the US Congress' first hearing into the catastrophe, also warned against "snap judgments" like ceasing all offshore drilling or shrugging off the crisis and pursuing business as usual.

"If this is like other catastrophic failures of technological systems in modern history -- whether it was the sinking of the Titanic, Three Mile Island, or the loss of the Challenger -- we will likely discover that there was a cascade of failures: Technical, human, and regulatory," he said.

The top Republican on Bingaman's Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee, Senator Lisa Murkowski, warned drilling "will never be without risk" but that industry and regulators "must never grow complacent" about safety.

The panel was to grill top executives from British energy giant BP, which leased the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling platform and was majority owner of the well; Transocean, the rig's owner; and oil services firm Halliburton that did key technical work.

Moments before the hearing began, two groups of demonstrators took aim at BP, some with black teardrops painted on their faces in quiet protest, another calling out "BP kills wildlife, BP kills people, BP kills the planet."

[NormsRevenge]

.. a cascade of failures: Technical, human, and regulatory,"

a DemocRat SEnator demagoging at a hearing .. CHange. :-}

[NormsRevenge]

(L-R) Lamar McKay, Chairman and President of BP America, Steven Newman, President and CEO of Transocean Ltd. and Tim Probert, President of Global Business Lines of Halliburton testify before a Senate Energy and Natural Resources hearing on the accident in the Gulf of Mexico involving the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon, in Washington, May 11, 2010. U.S. lawmakers start two days of hearings in Washington on the deadly drilling rig explosion and the oil spill that threatens an economic and ecological catastrophe on U.S. Gulf shores. REUTERS/Jason Reed « Read less (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS DISASTER ENERGY ENVIRONMENT)

[NormsRevenge]

CoDe Pink seems to have branched out in what they protest,,
just being opportunistic, I reckun. photo op scumbags.

President and Chairman of BP America Inc. Lamar McKay (foreground), is pictured alongside protesters before a Senate Energy and Natural Resources hearing on the accident in the Gulf of Mexico involving the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon in Washington, May 11, 2010. U.S. lawmakers start two days of hearings in Washington on the deadly drilling rig explosion and the oil spill that threatens an economic and ecological catastrophe on U.S. Gulf shores. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: DISASTER POLITICS ENERGY ENVIRONMENT IMAGES OF THE DAY)

[Ingtar]

Since the cause seems to be an Obama administration approved short cut that bypassed safety procedures, someone else will have to go under the bus. Most likely it will be Haliburton.

[screaminsunshine]

If we could harness the Hot air and noxious gasses eminating from Washingtopia we would not need oil. Maybe we could build a giant copy of the dome they are trying to fix the oil leak with and put it over the Capital. A huge pipeline could then be run to a generator to power the whole country.

[Freddd]

It’s Obama’s fault.

[F.J. Mitchell]

Does anyone remember that uncapped Mexican oil well that just kept gushing crude into the Gulf of Mexico for what seemed like an eternity, a few years back and they refused our offers of help? The crude was washing upon the beaches of South Padre before it was over.

Does anyone remember our politicians and the environuts making this big an issue of that?

Double standards for everything as usual.

[SJSAMPLE]

This accident is EXACTLY the reason why we need to open up offshore drilling.

They’ve forced rigs out so far (and deep) that the likelihood, severity and scope of such accidents is increased. How much safer if that rig was with the 3 or 12 mile limits, where the water is more shallow. Don’t set rigs in shallow waters have a better safety record than floating/buoyed rigs in deep water? This rig was drilling at 5,000feet. Good luck closing that up!

[oceanagirl]

Yeah, I remember that mess.

However, this is going to be a huge mess, too.

Lots of waterfront property owners and fishermen are going to lose a lot of money if someone doesn’t stop the underwater gusher very soon.

An early season hurricane could make this even more of a mess.

I say whoever screwed up pays for it, all politics aside.

[freekitty]

Instead of grilling the corporations; why don’t we set up hearings to grill the Congress?

[Del Rapier]

Failure to implement safety standards is one thing,failure to do with the explicit approval of DC......leads one to think that is not BP who should be to blame.

Again I really think we should drill on Land or in Alaska rather then in the Abyss.

I think BP personally has dealt with the crisis better then the Feds and should keep drilling in the continental United States rather then in the GULF.

[blade_tenner]

There’s been drilling in the North sea for decades without incident... does BP just not care because the Gulf is not in their backyard?

[ridesthemiles]

Drilling on our own soil instead of in international waters 5000 feet deep would be much better.

The N Dakota Bakken field has plenty of oil- and this kind of ‘oil spill’ will be much easier to deal with.

[ridesthemiles]

Drilling on our own soil instead of in international waters 5000 feet deep would be much better.

The N Dakota Bakken field has plenty of oil- and this kind of ‘oil spill’ will be much easier to deal with.

[RoadTest]

“Gasbags” = Congresscritters! :-D

[Recovering_Democrat]

HUSSEIN RECEIVED MORE $$ FROM BP THAN ANY CANDIDATE IN HISTORY!

Hussein's administration gave BP an environmental exemption last year for the DEEPWATER HORIZON!

Does anyone think THOSE FACTS WILL BE BROUGHT UP BY THAT PUNK FROM NEW MEXICO??????????

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From Washington Post:

Oil executives shift blame at Senate hearing

BP blames Trans Ocean...who fires back...

***************************snip******************************

Halliburton's Tim Probert also tried to deflect blame, saying, "We understand that the drilling contractor . . . proceeded to displace the riser with seawater prior to the planned placement of the final cement plug." That plug was designed to keep the oil and gas in the well, a final step before pulling the drilling rig away from the well. Probert said that the final cement plug was never set.

[ArrogantBustard]

Democratic Senator Jeff Bingaman, leading the US Congress' first hearing into the catastrophe has absolutely ZERO knowledge or experience in petroleum engineering, or any other kind of engineering, or any productive pursuit at all. His mere presence on the panel is a matter of the utmost hypocrisy.

[ArrogantBustard]

why don’t we set up hearings to grill the Congress?

Grill Congress??

I'm in ... Propane, or the more traditional charcoal?

[freekitty]

LOL