BP cited for five more violations in gulf oil spill

December 08, 2011|By Holbrook Mohr, Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. - Federal regulators cited BP PLC yesterday for a second set of alleged violations stemming from the 2010 well blowout that killed 11 rig workers and caused the worst offshore oil spill in US history.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement cited BP for five alleged violations. The citations, announced after a further review of evidence, were in addition to seven others issued against BP in October.

BP spokesman Scott Dean said the British company would appeal all the violations. He said the issues raised in the latest citations “played no causal role in the accident.’’

One of yesterday’s citations said BP failed to conduct an accurate pressure integrity test at a specific part of the well in the Gulf of Mexico. The other citations are related to an alleged failure to suspend drilling operations when the “safe drilling margin’’ in the permit application was not maintained.

“Our federal regulations exist to ensure safe and environmentally responsible activities,’’ the safety agency’s director, James Watson, said in a statement. “We will continue to be vigilant in enforcing those regulations.’’

Regulators also previously cited BP’s contractors, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton, for four violations each. The earlier citations said BP, Transocean, and Halliburton did not operate in a “safe and workmanlike manner’’ and “failed to take necessary precautions to keep the well under control at all times.’’ BP owned the well and was leasing the Deepwater Horizon rig from Transocean. Halliburton was the cement contractor hired to work on BP’s Macondo well a mile beneath the ocean surface.

BP has 60 days to appeal the latest violations, after which time the safety agency will consider what penalties could be imposed.