Maybe. As the oil continues to flow, some are charging that another BP operation in the Gulf is an even bigger disaster in the making.
"...This platform [Atlantis]," they wrote, "may be operating without crucial engineering documents, which, if absent, would increase the risk of a catastrophic accident..."
For six months, Ken Abbott managed BP's engineering documents for "Atlantis," BP's deep water platform nearly 200 miles south of New Orleans. He turned into a BP whistle-blower in February 2009 after finding what he says were thousands of Atlantis engineering documents and drawings that were neither complete nor reviewed properly by BP. That, Sawyer now says, was a serious safety violation.
Sawyer tells CNN that oil rig "engineering drawings and specification are the primary means that workers use to ensure that they can operate the platform safely, and can ensure that they can shut it down or at least control any unsafe event." Atlantis' engineering documents and drawings, says Sawyer, were so incomplete that he fears another environmental disaster from BP.
Abbott shared his information with Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, who found it so disturbing that he and 18 other lawmakers sent a letter to the Department of the Interior and the Minerals Management Service (MMS), the agency that regulates the oil industry.
BP still insists though "Atlantis ... absolutely is safe" as they did in a 52-page plan with the Minerals Management Service for the Deepwater Horizon well, outlining its explorations and environmental impact. The company concluded that it was unlikely, or virtually impossible, for an accident to occur from its activities that would lead to serious damage to beaches, fish, mammals and fisheries.
According to an AP report, BP repeatedly stresses that it was "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities." Though they concede that a spill would impact all the aforementioned areas, it argues that "due to the distance to shore (48 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected."
More in FAIL... U.S. government has launched a formal criminal and civil investigation into the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday. Ahh, like the criminal investigations into AIG and the squid.
