Oil Companies Are Still Using The Faulty Equipment That Caused The BP Oil Spill

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/06/06/3445971/bp-blowout-preventers/



The historic BP oil well explosion in April 2010 was not supposed to be so bad. If things had gone as planned, the offshore drilling rig’s last defense — a deep-sea mechanism called a “blowout preventer” — would have kicked in, sealing the drill pipe and short-circuiting the explosion, potentially preventing 11 deaths and 5 million barrels of crude oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.

But for reasons unknown, the blowout preventer malfunctioned, part of an array of errors that left behind the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, according to a U.S. Chemical Safety Board report released Thursday.

That report also said the same equipment is still widely-used in offshore drilling, and more needs to be done to make it safer.

“Although both regulators and the industry itself have made significant progress since the 2010 calamity, more must be done to ensure the correct functioning of blowout preventers and other safety-critical elements that protect workers and the environment from major offshore accidents,” CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso said in a statement.