Hi all,
I enter this thread with trepidation, but I'm compelled ...
"Playing the blame game" is an ill-advised characterization of what we as a nation (I'm speaking of the US) ought to be doing, which if figuring out what went wrong so we can take steps to avoid future disasters. Certainly, tempers are high, but something this grave warrants a close look, angry or not.
In engineering terms, we must find the point (or points) of failure; in risk management terms, we must identify what risk is incidental and what risk is systemic, and take steps to mitigate the risk in the future.
The location of the rig--in deep water--is an incidental risk. This can be mitigated by additional safety precautions, but here we run straight into the systemic risk:
BP is a fundamentally unsafe operator, and not only unsafe, but deliberately unsafe due to its haste and miserliness. Furthermore,
the regulatory agency failed to enforce safety precautions.
It follows then that even if the rig had been in shallower water, BP would have shortcut appropriate safety measures.
Regardless of who conducted the drilling, BP has direct responsibility for safety. It failed to act safely and to ensure that its contractors were acting safely; instead it prodded them to hurry and failed to provide accurate information. It also failed to develop a contingency plan. The best plan they have? Drill another well, which will take 90 days to complete.
Recent estimates strongly indicate that the rate of spillage is far greater than the 5,000 barrels a day the government estimated. 90 days is a long time. And we don't even know if the relief well will work ...