More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (Full Version)

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Vendaval -> More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 3:30:20 PM)

The more I read about the history of British Petroleum the more it becomes obvious that a disaster like the one in the gulf was doomed to happen. The story of the Texas City plant is especially chilling.

[]
In BP’s Record, a History of Boldness and Costly Blunders
Published: July 12, 2010

A Troubled Workplace

"Acquired by BP in the Amoco purchase, the Texas City plant was America’s second-largest refinery, turning 460,000 barrels of crude oil a day into gasoline. But the facility, built in 1934, was poorly maintained and long starved of capital investment.

“We have never seen a site where the notion ‘I could die today’ was so real,” the Telos Group, a consulting firm hired to examine conditions at the plant, said in a report two months before the accident.

The explosion occurred when a 170-foot tower was being filled with liquid hydrocarbons. Because of poor communication among several workers who had been on 12-hour shifts for more than a month straight, no one noticed that the tower was filled too high.

A 20-foot geyser of unstable chemicals shot into the sky, and the vapor ignited when a contractor, trying to get away, repeatedly tried to start the engine on his stalling pickup truck.

The subsequent investigations were scathing. The explosion was “caused by organizational and safety deficiencies at all levels of BP,” the United States Chemical Safety Board concluded in one report.

The government ultimately found more than 300 safety violations, and BP agreed to pay a then record $21 million in fines.

A year later, there was a new calamity: 267,000 gallons of oil leaked from BP’s network of pipelines in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska."


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/business/energy-environment/13bprisk.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1

Link to the safety report.

http://www.csb.gov/assets/document/CSBFinalReportBP.pdf



slvemike4u -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 3:34:08 PM)

If we are going to continue to drag this poor company's corporate name thru the mud....we should prepare apologies lest we hurt their feelings or perhaps be accused of "strongarming" them [8|]



Vendaval -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 3:42:19 PM)

And protect them from the consequences of their actions? [8|]



slvemike4u -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 3:59:50 PM)

Care to run those twin aims up the GOP flagpole and take notes on just how many salute?



servantforuse -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 4:30:54 PM)

This oil fiasco in the gulf will be very costly to the UK and US governments. According to the Financial Times, the spill costs will cut the BP tax bill by $ 10 bn over the next 4 years..



slvemike4u -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 4:33:14 PM)

And your point is?
Presumably,as a result of this fiasco,their corporate bottom line will take a hit.....hence they will pay less taxes.Are you decrying this outcome?



DCWoody -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 4:59:59 PM)

Ya, BP were risking it for years. Ya gotta feel sorry for the current guy though....I forget his name, but among other things he was criticised for spending fathers day with his son...

Reason I feel sorry for him, it was the previous chairman (and arguably before him too)....who'd been running a fine line. It became apparent that much of BP wasn't safe, they bought in this guy to fix it. His whole point was to safetn up BP, was his main argument for taking charge when he got the job, has been the main thrust of what he's been doing since. Now this happens, he gets the entire american media making him out to be pol hitler, the previous guy whose actually responsible for fucking BPs safety set up is sitting at home with his millions of pounds...



servantforuse -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 5:01:22 PM)

Everyone is saying how much this spill will cost BP. Now it appears that they will save $10 bn on their bottom line. It might pay to be irresponsible and have a poor safety record. Do I sound like Brain '" I'm not happy about it"'.



DarkSteven -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 7:07:10 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: servantforuse

This oil fiasco in the gulf will be very costly to the UK and US governments. According to the Financial Times, the spill costs will cut the BP tax bill by $ 10 bn over the next 4 years..


Do you mean because the escaped oil will not be available for sale?  I can't see any other way that BP will have less income and therefore less taxes, unless their money is diverted to restoration and PR efforts.



slvemike4u -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 9:31:35 PM)

Bingo....this will hurt the bottom line...consequently diminishing their tax liability(plus opening up all new streams of tax write-offs)...somehow servant has taken that premise and is converting it to BP saving money on their tax bill.
His mind works in mysterious ways.



TheHeretic -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 9:52:15 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: slvemike4u

Care to run those twin aims up the GOP flagpole and take notes on just how many salute?



Funny thing, Mike. The wife and I have an agreement about our pending road trip. We only stop at BP if a breakfast burrito has landed horribly wrong - then it's our first choice.



Brain -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 10:53:12 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: slvemike4u

If we are going to continue to drag this poor company's corporate name thru the mud....we should prepare apologies lest we hurt their feelings or perhaps be accused of "strongarming" them [8|]


Yeah, apologize like these guys,

Those posted are up for election or re-election. I hope their constituents are well aware of their support for BP.


bp Republicans

because big oil can never have too many friends in congress.

When President Obama directed BP to set aside $20 billion to pay for the damages caused by the Gulf Coast oil spill, we saw who big oil's true friends are. Meet the Republicans fighting for BP.

http://www.bprepublicans.com/page/content/bprepublicans

Congressman Joe Barton, the top Republican on the committee overseeing the oil spill and its aftermath, delivered a personal apology to BP, saying the $20 billion fund that President Obama directed BP to establish to provide relief to the victims of the oil disaster was a "tragedy in the first proportion."

Spread the Word
email Facebook Twitter

Rep. Joe Barton (R-BP)


[image]local://upfiles/392475/0164E9EFF14C4A209E5BEEF304DD5074.jpg[/image]



willbeurdaddy -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/14/2010 11:00:42 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Brain

quote:

ORIGINAL: slvemike4u

If we are going to continue to drag this poor company's corporate name thru the mud....we should prepare apologies lest we hurt their feelings or perhaps be accused of "strongarming" them [8|]


Yeah, apologize like these guys,

Those posted are up for election or re-election. I hope their constituents are well aware of their support for BP.


bp Republicans

because big oil can never have too many friends in congress.

When President Obama directed BP to set aside $20 billion to pay for the damages caused by the Gulf Coast oil spill, we saw who big oil's true friends are. Meet the Republicans fighting for BP.

http://www.bprepublicans.com/page/content/bprepublicans

Congressman Joe Barton, the top Republican on the committee overseeing the oil spill and its aftermath, delivered a personal apology to BP, saying the $20 billion fund that President Obama directed BP to establish to provide relief to the victims of the oil disaster was a "tragedy in the first proportion."

Spread the Word
email Facebook Twitter

Rep. Joe Barton (R-BP)


[image]local://upfiles/392475/0164E9EFF14C4A209E5BEEF304DD5074.jpg[/image]


I hope their constituents are aware of Obama's strongarming.



Louve00 -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/15/2010 4:28:24 AM)

Well, the word was certainly spread to facebook.  They have a page there called Boycot BP.  You can find all kinds of interesting facts, points of views, and opinions as you skim thru that profile.  As well as pictures of the mess and what its doing to the wildlife there.



rulemylife -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/15/2010 4:45:28 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

I hope their constituents are aware of Obama's strongarming.


Me too.

If there ever was a situation where strong-arming was called for it was this.

I don't see how anyone can view requiring BP to back their promises as a negative.



DarkSteven -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/15/2010 4:53:03 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: rulemylife

quote:

ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

I hope their constituents are aware of Obama's strongarming.


Me too.

If there ever was a situation where strong-arming was called for it was this.

I don't see how anyone can view requiring BP to back their promises as a negative.



Agreed.  The word "strong arming" was known as "jawboning" when JFK did it, and was the bully pulpit per Roosevelt.  Congress had weakened corporate liability to the point where strong arming BP was necessary because they could have shirked liability otherwise.

The GOP blew this one big time.  BP had messed up and the administration was being criticized for their response, and Obama was losing points.  Then Barton came by and claimed that big mean Obama was picking on poor little BP.  Instantly Obama became the hero on this and the GOP was cast as the party of big oil. As a bonus, he made Obama look powerful and decisive, as well as moral.

If the Dems hold onto the house in 2010, Barton will be the main reason.





Aneirin -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/15/2010 5:03:16 AM)

But isn't this just like any other company that is trying to make a profit ? Fair enough BP has been caught out, it has become responsible for a disaster that isn't going away, but if this disaster happened to BP which company is next, for they all cut corners in search of profit, it is the nature of business.

Take Nigeria for example the largest producer of high quality crude oil which is responsible  for 40 % of the US oil imports, look at the Niger Delta where many foreign oil companies are operating and just search for what happens there, a place tucked away from the world, and ignored by the world, because it is not in the West's front yard.

BP doing its exploratory drilling off the coast of the US was a major risk from the start let alone what might or might not have happened with that gamble, a major risk because of the publicity that they would have  and have attracted because of the location, if that experimental drilling was done elsewhere in the world and shit happened would there be as much attention as there is in this case. I think not, as what is happening in the Niger Delta is a good example, no one cares, for it is not in their vicinity, someone else's problem.

Here take a look at the real cost of the oil we so desperately want

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill really is well publicised small potatoes compared to what happens on a very frequent basis in Nigeria, all that the responsibility of foreign companies operating in the area.



domiguy -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/15/2010 5:03:47 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy


I hope their constituents are aware of Obama's strongarming.


You are a fucking idiot. With every post you just drive the point deeper.

You would obviously like to see everyone holding the bag for this disaster but the people responsible for this negligent act.

It must really suck to be you.



slvemike4u -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/15/2010 7:13:23 AM)

Isn't that socialistic....to  expect everyone else to "hold the bag" rather than to force BP to accept the consequencs of their risky business practices?



DarkSteven -> RE: More on BP's safety violations in pursuit of profit (7/15/2010 7:21:06 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aneirin

But isn't this just like any other company that is trying to make a profit ?



Every company tries to make a profit. It's simply a case of doing what is profitable, within the laws.  In BP's case, they broke numerous laws and also some common sense safety rules.

And it should be obvious by now that this will cost their profitability dearly.



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