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British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
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BP and Oil Lease in the Gulf of Mexico
At the four year mark of the Deep Water Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows British Petroleum (BP) to drill for oil in the gulf once again. Many consumer advocate groups, chiefly Public Citizens, have voiced concerns over this decision. The lack of corporate accountability and oversight makes this decision seem unethical to these advocates groups. However, the company agrees to follow the agency’s ethic and safety procedure given the new leases. Yet, a series of accidents on its infrastructure makes reform seem doubtful for the company.
Since 2005, PBS reported of four major incidents involving BP. The first incident was an explosion that killed 15 people at BP’s Texas refinery in Texas City. BP did not replace the old blown-down drums, a safety feature, with safer, modern flares to save money. An investigation commissioned by former Secretary of State James Baker concluded that this incident was preventable and BP failed in putting safety as a priority. In the Alaska incident, 260,000 gallons of oil leaked from a BP oil pipeline on Alaska’s North Slope in March, 2006. Later investigations found that BP hired uncertified inspectors and kept records poorly. BP agreed to re-inspect 10,000 points and corrected their problems. In July of 2005, a BP oil platform, called Thunder Horse, toppled after Hurricane Dennis. After an investigation, BP found that their engineers had incorrectly installed a number of valves that supported the rig. On January 2007, the Minerals Management Service cited this accident was caused by human error (PBS). In 2010, the Deep Water Horizon rig exploded, leading to oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. Again BP is ...
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...n Knutson. "Years of Internal BP Probes Warned That Neglect Could Lead to Accidents." http://www.propublica.org. N.p., 7 June 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. .
Krauss, Clifford. "U.S. Agrees to Allow BP Back Into Gulf Waters to Seek Oil." The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Mar. 2014. Web. . .
"BP's Troubled Past." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. . .
Hammer, David . "5 key human errors, colossal mechanical failure led to fatal Gulf oil rig blowout." The Times-Picayune. N.p., 5 Sept. 2010. Web. . .