According to Minerals Management Service (MMS) regulation 250.416 (e), drillers are required to submit proof that blowout preventers (BOP) have sufficient power to shear through a drill pipe in an emergency. However, in a letter to Transocean CEO Steven L. Newman, Senator Charles Grassley (IA) states that the MMS inspector who examined the Deepwater Horizon drilling application claimed that he was not even aware of such a requirement. Also, the inspector said he never even asked for proof of BOP compliance in the more than 100 drilling applications his agency looks at each year. In his letter, Grassley asked for Transocean to provide him a long list of communiqués and documents between the company and the MMS. Of note is a request for the name of the person “who made the decision to replace the mud in the drill hole with seawater.”
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