Whistleblower claims that BP was aware of cheating on blowout preventer tests
Oil spill investigators find critical problems in blowout preventer
Deepwater Horizon owner Transocean seeks liability limit. Good luck with that.
White House wants $10 million to fight oil-spill litigation
The request is the first indication that the government might be on the hook to pay for some costs related to the spill despite the Obama administration’s near-daily proclamations that BP PLC will bear the full costs
If the regulatory agency, the MMS, is found to be corrupt, compromised, or incompetent then the federal government could indeed be liable. And the past record of MMS is less than inspiring.
An eye-opening series of reports in fall 2008 by the Department of the Interior’s inspector general disclosed a stunning level of corruption at the Minerals Management Service (MMS), and a coziness with industry officials that included a “culture of substance abuse and promiscuity” at the agency.
There’s been no news since yesterday about Top Hat, the new attempt to plug the leak.