General

‘Bad management’ caused Gulf spill

Companies chose saving money, time over safety

A presidential commission is blaming oil companies and federal regulators for the BP oil disaster that left 11 rig workers dead and the Gulf of Mexico awash in millions of gallons of oil. While BP bears the brunt of the blame, the commission’s report also faults Transocean, which owned the Deepwater Horizon rig, and Halliburton, which oversaw the sealing of the well, for making decisions aimed at saving time and money. Inadequate oversight and regulation on the part of the Department of the Interior, which did not have enough qualified staff to inspect the drilling operation, allowing the companies to cut corners. The report concludes that the disaster was an avoidable and recurring consequence of “systemic” inadequacies in industry practices and government policies.

BBC News