No remote shutoff on oil well.

Well,they better start installing them in existing wells and make them mandatory for all future wells.

snip

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded last week was not outfitted with a safety device that might have prevented the massive oil spill now nearing the U.S. Gulf Coast. The device, known as an acoustic switch, is a last-resort protection against underwater spills, and is required by regulators in Norway and Brazil. Unfortunately, the U.S. has no such regulation for oil wells operating off of its shores.

http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/19959

that's for sure.

Ya would think the Oil Companies would install them on their OWN and not have to be Told to.

Shows how big business does not self regulate even when its in their best interest.

Heads should roll.

Correct in the psychopathic sense, of course. So it would have cost $1 million to install the safety stuff, and a bil to cover the costs of the blowout. If frewer than 1 in 1000 wells blow up like that, then not spending for the safety equipment is the correct decision. Just like Ford & the Pinto, except that Ford didn't factor in the cost of the bad publicity. These days, the oil industry so thoroughly owns the media that they can very effectively manage public reaction.

Oil Spill’s Blow to BP’s Image May Eclipse Out-of-Pocket Costs
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Published: April 29, 2010

HAMMOND, La. — BP says that the offshore drilling accident that is spewing thousands of barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico could cost the company several hundred million dollars. Nobody really knows whether the London-based oil giant is being too conservative about the cost for the April 20 accident, which some experts say could end up as the biggest oil spill in history. The 1989 grounding of the Exxon Valdez off Alaska, for example, cost Exxon Mobil more than $4.3 billion, including compensatory payments, cleanup costs, settlements and fines.

But regardless of the out-of-pocket costs, the long-term damage to BP’s reputation — and possibly, its future prospects for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico — is likely to be far higher, according to industry analysts. The magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon disaster seems to be finally sinking in with investors. BP’s stock plunged more than 8 percent Thursday in American trading in an otherwise strong day for stocks. Since the accident, the American depositary receipts of the company have fallen about 13 percent, closing Thursday at $52.56.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/business/30bp.html

Hmmmm......see a pattern?

IF memory serves, they (BP) had to pay a fine. good ole chaps.

Safety first.

Psychopaths learn quickly in positive-reinforcement paradigms (where certain behaviors are followed by rewards) but aren't good at learning anything in passive-avoidance paradigms (where one is punished for doing bad things).

to avoid spending the preventative $$ & just plan on occasionally having to make expenditures to bribe officials & pay off a few lawsuits.

Its time for the Rare BIGGIE......the ultimake cost might be the end of our way of life as we noes it....

Big business focuses on short term bottom line and on cheaper alternatives. Cost cutting, higher profits always tend to win out over safety and prudence.. when they can get away with it. I suspect the more prudent approach will now be followed.

then it forces corporations to do unethical things. We don't want corporations to be unethical, so we must not regulate them.

Or so goes the right-wing/loony talking point.

Fuck those fucking socialists - drill baby drill! :sarcasm:

and the freedom of the gov't to use tax payer money to clean up the disaster.

we live in a 3d world country, anyway! What do we expect? Broadband; oil well safety; underground mining; education; health care; blahblahblah

The acoustic switch appears to simply be a back up actuator for use when the wire between the platform and the BOP fails.

They got the robots down to actuate closure with no result.

The failure of the BOP in this case points to a much more troubling issue than the lack of an acoustic switch, that is the reliability of BOP's and their ability to close wells.

I have seen some speculation from individuals familiar with drilling that the pipe may have been too heavy for the BOP to work.

I don't think we can or should have nuclear power here. Perhaps France can pull it off because they don't worship the almighty bottom line, as we do here. As soon as some plant owner finds a way to make more money by cutting corners, it's off to the races with our safety.

Drilling for oil in deep water like this is much more hazardous and riskier business.

Even when oil drilling goes as planned we are still destroying the earth's biosphere. Refining and burning the oil for fuel probably causes as much damage to the ecosystem as spilling it raw into the seas, we just haven't tended to notice that.

Or so we're told, day after day.

Can't we strike a BALANCE?

A lot of things could be a lot better if the bulk of wealth wasn't being channeled to the personal bank acounts of a select few. The greed of corporations is just the store front of personl greed. If we don't play along, they'll take their ball and go home. It's the same argument against taxing the rich. "If you raise their taxes, they'll invest less." As if it's carved in stone that they can't simply just have a little less fucking money.

The balance you're looking for is being tipped by individual bank balances.

common sense needs to be regulated and enforced by the US government.