That $500,000 blowout prevention valve system, which BP successfully fought installing, is going to look like chump change. Note that the Bush Administration adopted the Libertarian/Randian point of view that "corporations will adopt safety measures on their own because their reputation is on the line", or some such bullshit.
Of course, BP is crying the same sort of crocodile tears that Massey Coal gushed forth:
"Losing 11 of our industry colleagues is a tragedy for the offshore community," said BP Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward in the statement.What a load of self-serving horseshit.
(H/T)
Uh oh, the Chinese spammers are back!
ReplyDeleteI know, I just deleted it.
ReplyDeleteThose fuckers. I really don't want to enable full moderation.
Well, at least now BP knows that there's oil in that thare gusher :).
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that there *was* a computer-controlled valve down there that was supposed to shut off if it quit getting signals. Emphasis on the "was". It apparently got blown apart when the gas in the casing exploded, or it was defective to begin with and just didn't shut off, or just wasn't capable of handling the pressure of the gushing oil. Also quite clearly it wasn't this half-million-dollar "Go To Hell" valve that you're talking about, but, rather, just an ordinary pipeline valve like I used to service for a living. Those are good valves, but not intended to staunch a million plus gallons of oil per day under high pressure...
- Badtux the Oil Penguin