Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
BP Ignored Warnings Before Oil Rig Explosion
By
John Del Signore
Published May 26, 2010
Modified May 26, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published May 26, 2010
Modified May 26, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
In the hours before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20th, BP received and ignored warning signs that something was seriously wrong. In a memo [pdf] released last night, the House committee investigating the disaster confirmed that BP made a "fundamental mistake" in continuing operations after the problems were detected. The memo doesn't say who specifically made the call to keep drilling after the problem was found, but we can just about picture the guy. BP's investigation has "also raised concerns about the maintenance history, modification, inspection, and testing of the [rig]."
The Times has published a provocative article looking at the links between BP and President Obama’s energy secretary Steven Chu. Three years ago Chu received the bulk of a $500 million grant from BP to develop alternative energy sources, and Chu selected BP’s chief scientist Steven E. Koonin to be his under-secretary. The White House points out that the Energy Department "doesn’t have jurisdiction over the oil spill," but on May 12th Obama sent Dr. Chu to BP’s command center in Houston to meet with top engineers and scientists. Remember what Chu said after walking out of the meeting? "Things are looking up." And we're winning hearts and minds, too, right?
The catastrophe has also shined a spotlight on the incompetent Minerals Management Service, the federal agency in charge of regulating the oil and gas industry. Slate reports that bureaucrats there "let industry officials fill out their own inspection sheets and then traced it over in pen, according to an inspector general's report. Inspectors accepted gifts, like tickets to sports events and pricey dinners, from oil companies. They watched porn on their work computers. (Perhaps they were simply researching the 'junk shot.')"
The Interior Department is rushing to complete more stringent regulations governing safety and environmental practices, but the Times reports that "drilling companies objected to the new rules, saying they were overly prescriptive and would be costly to comply with." Cue the tiny violins. Meanwhile, BP is running tests to decide whether to go through with the "top-kill" plan to choke off the leak with mud, followed by cement. The technique has been used successfully to stop other spills such as the oil flooding out of sabotaged Kuwaiti oil wells, but never attempted at such a depth. If it doesn't work, experts fear it could actually make the spill worse by causing a new leak or tearing a new hole in the leaking well pipe. You will be able to watch it live, whenever they do it.
Tagged
BP
british petroleum
gulf coast
gulf spill
oil
oil rig
oil spill
top kill
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .