M Plaut's  Instablog

A recent lawsuit filed in Louisiana claims that the immediate cause of the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was improper techniques used by the boats that attempted to fight the fire on the Deepwater Horizon rig after an explosion on April 20.

For two days the huge rig, owned by Transocean Ltd and operated by BP, burned in the water, before finally sinking.

According to a suit ( Robin v. Seacor Marine LLC, 2:10-cv-01986, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans) and reported by Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-15/gulf-o...) filed by a number of parties hurt by the disaster, the fireboats shooting thousands of gallons of water at the crippled rig eventually flooded rig and caused it to sink. At the time that the Deepwater Horizon sank it was still connected to the well, and crude oil started pouring out uncontrollably only after the pipes broke.

The suit claims that if recommended techniques would have been followed, the uncontrolled leak would not have occurred.

If the assertions of the suit are correct, it puts an entirely new spin on the whole disaster.




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