Oil rig's record of fires, spills considered normal for offshore drilling industry

During its nine years at sea, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by BP suffered a series of spills, fires — even a high seas collision — because of equipment failure, human error and bad weather. It also drilled the world's deepest offshore well.


. . .

The Coast Guard, which is supposed to ensure the vessels are seaworthy, keeps its own set of safety records on the Deepwater Horizon.

From 2000 to 2010, the Coast Guard issued six enforcement warnings and handed down one civil penalty and a notice of violation to Deepwater Horizon, agency records show.

On 18 different occasions during that period the Coast Guard cited the vessel for an "acknowledged pollution source." No further details about the type of pollution were immediately available.

The agency also conducted 16 investigations of incidents involving everything from fires to slip-and-fall accidents.

Steven Sutton, who oversees offshore drilling inspectors in the Coast Guard's New Orleans office, said the number of accidents and incidents reported on the Deepwater Horizon didn't strike him as unusual.

http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-gulf-oil-spill-the-rig,0,1491599,full.story



On average two "acknowledged pollution source" events happens each year, and that's considered normal for these guys. Someone should tell the media because that's not what the public has been told.