Chief Mechanic Testifies BP and Transocean Officials Argued Over Procedures On Day of Disaster

Posted in BP British Petroleum,Deepwater Horizon,Government,Gulf Coast,Louisiana Maritime News,Maritime Law,Transocean on May 28, 2010

KENNER, La – Douglas Brown, chief mechanic on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, testified Wednesday, May 26, 2010, that BP and Transocean officials argued on the morning of the April 20 disaster over procedures to take place that day.

Doug Brown, left, the chief mechanic of the Deepwater Horizon, waits for questions as his attorneys, Steve Gordon, sitting, and Jeff Seely, speak to each other during a hearing in Kenner, La., on Wednesday, May 26, 2010. Brown testified as part of a Coast Guard/MMS investigation into the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo AP/Chris Granger

One senior Transocean official who disagreed with BP’s planned procedures on the day of the explosion expressed fatalistic resignation following a dispute with BP aboard the rig, Brown said.

What Brown described as a “skirmish” broke out during a daily planning meeting and involved BP’s representative on the rig it leased from Transocean, known as the “company man,” and Transocean’s toolpusher, driller and offshore installation manager, he said.

“I remember the company man saying this is how it’s going to be,” Brown testified at a joint Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service hearing in Kenner, La.

Jimmy Harrell, Transocean’s offshore installation manager, complained in the hallway as he left an 11 a.m. meeting in which BP overruled Transocean officials over those procedures, Brown testified.

“He pretty much grumbled, I guess that’s what we have those pinchers for,” Brown recounted, referring to seal-off valves on the sea floor that are designed to shut in the well in the event of an emergency.

The testimony supports previous eyewitness accounts that suggest BP overruled Transocean on aspects of the operation in the hours preceding the 10 p.m. well blowout and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 workers and touched off a massive oil spill.

When the explosion occurred, Brown said, he was thrown against a control panel in the engine room and then dropped in a hole in the floor opened by the blast. Upon trying to get up, a second blast knocked him back down in the hole and the ceiling collapsed on him.

After reaching the main deck, he described scenes of “complete chaos.” He later escaped and was evacuated to Mobile, Ala., and treated for injuries.

Original Story by Brett Clanton