The Deepwater Horizon joint investigation concluded the first day of the sixth session of hearings Tuesday into the circumstances surrounding the explosion, fire, pollution and sinking of the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Deepwater Horizon, with multiple loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010.
The joint investigation has the powers of both convening agencies, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM), and is co-chaired and staffed by representatives of both agencies.Â
The facts collected at this hearing, along with the lead investigators’ conclusions and recommendations will be forwarded to Coast Guard Headquarters and BOEM for approval. Once approved, the final investigative report will be made available to the public and the media. No analysis or conclusions will be presented during the hearing.
The joint investigation is conducting the hearings in sessions. Session one was held May 11-12, 2010, and investigated the circumstances surrounding the fire, explosion, pollution and sinking of the MODU. The second session was held May 26-29, 2010, with the focus on gathering information on the MODU’s materiel condition, crew qualifications, emergency preparedness, and casualty timeline. The third session of hearings was held July 19-23, 2010, with the focus on the “how” and the “why” (which might also be considered the “technical verification” phase).
The fourth session of hearings was held August 23-27, 2010, with a focus on the recovery, analysis, and evaluation of the critical drilling equipment. The fifth session of hearings was held October 4-8, 2010, with the focus on safety management systems, organisational decision-making and safety culture.
The sixth session of hearings is scheduled to continue through Thursday.
BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers with approximately 250 million gallons of oil leaking unabated into the ocean. Efforts to manage the spill with controlled burning, dispersants and plugging the leak were unsuccessful until the British oil giant capped the well in mid-July, which only temporarily halted the flow of oil into the Gulf. The well was then successfully plugged and declared “effectively dead” on September 19.
