The rig’s on fire! I told you this was gonna happen!
Posted: June 7th, 2010 by: h2
Hot off the presses. Now, this comes from the attorney planning the litigation against BP for the Gulf Deepwater Horizon blowout, so of course as a source it’s not balanced, but it seems to confirm some chunks of some of the earlier rumors that have been floating around.
A prominent Houston attorney with a long record of winning settlements from oil companies says he has new evidence suggesting that the Deepwater Horizon’s top managers knew of problems with the rig before it exploded last month, causing the worst oil spill in US history. Tony Buzbee, a lawyer representing 15 rig workers and dozens of shrimpers, seafood restaurants, and dock workers, says he has obtained a three-page signed statement from a crew member on the boat that rescued the burning rig’s workers. The sailor, who Buzbee refuses to name for fear of costing him his job, was on the ship’s bridge when Deepwater Horizon installation manager Jimmy Harrell, a top employee of rig owner Transocean, was speaking with someone in Houston via satellite phone. Buzbee told Mother Jones that, according to this witness account, Harrell was screaming, “Are you fucking happy? Are you fucking happy? The rig’s on fire! I told you this was gonna happen.”
Whoever was on the other end of the line was apparently trying to calm Harrell down. “I am fucking calm,” he went on, according to Buzbee. “You realize the rig is burning?”
“The rig’s on fire! I told you this was gonna happen!”
Not looking so good here for BP. This sounds true to me by the way, for what that’s worth, which I admit isn’t a lot.
Re this story, here’s a comment from ROCKMAN in theOilDrum.com about the general attitude of oil field workers about making sure people know what’s actually going on, so they can protect themselves from false accusations should someone, say, for example, BP, decide to blame them as individuals.
ROCKMAN on June 7, 2010 – 3:39pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Parent subthread | Comments top
FOR ALL
Red’s [re his reposting the above article text] very interesting point made me wonder if folks realize how close quarters are on a rig. We’ll probably hear more about overheard conversations as the investigation goes forward. Though the rig is massive most work spaces are relatively small. Especially true in the quarters. Difficult to have a private conversation unless you make a serious effort. Heck…difficult to scratch your butt w/o 3 other hands knowing it. Add that to the fact that a man is just as much (if not more so) a gossep as a woman. One hand hears an argument between the company man and the OIM and by the end of the next meal time a dozen will have the details.
There is also a long standing habit in the oil patch when a hand is over ruled on some tech issue. You tend to make a point of telling another hand or two about it. Sort of a CYA move. Not as good as having a video of the conversation but does carry some weight.