Where is BP’s “company man”?

The chain of events leading to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon platform goes back quite some time. The “cozy relationship” described by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar between government inspectors and rig companies was part of a culture of corruption dating back months if not years. But perhaps the single most important event took place just a few hours before the April 20 explosion.

In a Coast Guard and MMS hearing this week, Douglas H. Brown, chief mechanic on the platform, spoke of a “skirmish” in an 11:00 a.m. meeting between representatives of Transocean and BP. The argument centered over the decision by BP’s representative to remove drilling mud and replace it with seawater before temporarily sealing up the well.

Brown said Transocean’s crew leaders disagreed with the procedure but were overruled by the BP rep, who, according to Brown, said, “This is how it’s gonna be.”

The BP rep’s name was not given; he was identified as a “company man.”

The person listed on BP’s documents as its company man was David Vidrine, who was unavailable for comment. He was to have testified Thursday but cancelled due to an unknown “medical issue.”

Because BP is circling the wagons and protecting Mr. Vidrine from saying anything that might incriminate himself or the company, it remains to be seen if he was acting on his sole authority to replace the drilling mud with seawater or if he was carrying out corporate orders to speed up the process at the expense of a safe operation.

Less than 12 hours after the argument, the rig exploded.