The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill just released a key chapter from their final report. Long story short…everyone is to blame. The commission found that Transocean that provided the staff, Halliburton that provided cement to secure the wells and other services, and of course BP, all continuously made “baffling decisions that played a role in the disaster.” To emphasize the weight of these statements consider this last statement was made by William Reilly, arguably an industry insider as a board member of ConocoPhillips and who headed the EPA under President George H.W. Bush, who served the commission’s co-chairman. However, Reilly states
“Given that both of these companies plus BP are active in virtually every ocean, I have concluded reluctantly that we have a systemwide problem that is going to require a systemwide solution”
The commission also found that errors pointed to bad management and communication and to favoring profits and time over risk prevention.
“The fact that there was a pattern is what created a sense among the commission that this is a large problem”
The report also fingers the government who failed to adequately oversee the whole thing. Of course there is us too who put the demand on oil in the first place.
