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BP wasted time deploying Deepwater Horizon robot, contractor says

Posted on Oct 05, 2010

BP wasted several hours after the Deepwater Horizon explosion before deploying an undersea robot, a salvage contractor testified before a federal panel in New Orleans on Monday.

Doug Martin, president of Smit Salvage Americas, alleged that BP interfered in the process by needlessly taking extra time to determine if the heat from the flames would pose a threat to the workers deploying the robot to shut the well. "I had a hard time believing there was data available at that time” to determine how hot the fire was, he said, adding that it made more sense to cool the boat and get the robot into the water.

Martin, who was called into the command center, suggested BP wasted time instead of taking immediate action. BP countered in a statement to the Associated Press that it was merely being prudent to make sure workers could safely conduct the operation.

The testimony came before a joint U.S. Coast Guard-Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement investigative panel hearing to determine the cause of the explosion which killed 11 workers on April 20 and triggered the Gulf oil spill.

Source: Associated Press

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