Chapter 18, Problem 20DQ

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The manner in which other companies can ensure the prevention of such incidents in future.

Introduction:

The explosion of the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon is considered to be one of the worst environmental disasters in the entire history of the USA. The offshore rig situated in the Gulf of Mexico was exploded into flames on 20th April, 2010. This incident killed the eleven employees of the BP. Before the explosion of the rig there were string enough reports to suggest and warned that something might be wrong with the oil well and this was further substantiated by the red flags and several equipment readings. These red flags were however ignored and the internal documents of BP further established that there were a serious safety concerns and problems with Deepwater. The federal examination and investigation blamed both the BP and its contractor for the explosion and further suggested that there was a lax on the part of the government to have an oversight the functioning of the companies.