You are the expert in the “broadly defined” refinery field so I’m sure you know most of these details.
Since BP bought Amoco in 1998, they have been plagued with much higher rates of accidents than Exxon. BP excelled at improving efficiency and profits to please fat cats like me and others on Wall Street.
The U.S. Chemical Statement and Hazard Investigation Board in 2007 found BP fostered bad management at the plant and that cost-cutting moves by BP were factors in the Texas City explosion.
Judge Richard Posner (eminent legal scholar, UofChicago professor, (Milton disciple) has for decades argued for less government interference, but in the last 2 years he has changed in my mind on regulation is bad after the financial nightmare of the last few years. I’m sure this latest tragedy in Gulf would also lean him toward tighter regulation. Palin should give this a read from her local paper “Free-market economist changes tune” http://www.adn.com/2010/04/15/1228127/free-market-economist-changes.html#ixzz0lHniBEds
The WSJ reports from this week further implicate BP in the Gulf rig explosion that killed 11 and injured many others. Whatever errors the other firms made, they claim that BP was the boss and so dictated all decisions. Leasing the rig at $1M per day, and over budget, BP appears to have taken shortcuts.
The industry will take a big hit for BP not following best practices, to be charitable. Instead of blaming BP or paying more bribes to Congress, the industry should take lead by having Lee Raymond (former Exxon CEO) explaining need for Gulf Oil and how he will personally guarantee new guidelines for the industry. They should also attempt to show goodwill with the public by hiring someone like Oprah to explain to the people their respect for safety, the environment and need for public to pay for safety.
The Texas City refinery explosion in 2005 killed 15 and injured 170.
The law firm BCA worked for Rowe’s settlement. Instead of taking the money and signing the abhorrent NDA (note to SCOTUS: ban NDAs in the name of safety, free speech) , the daughter fought hard to improve safety for future . “the total amount of which remains confidential, as do other plaintiffs’ settlements — secured funds for the hefty charity program and made public more than 7 million pages of court documents that helped bring to light safety lapses that led to the blast. Rowe expressed her gratitude that numerous endowments — established with $44 million included in her settlement with the British oil company — were improving safety in the refining industry.
Texas A&M has educated more engineers in process safety and has launched new research into fires, explosives and fire suppression, said Dr. Sam Mannan, of the university’s Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center. It got $12.5 million and $2 million for a matching grant program. The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, where many of the injured were taken after the explosion, has trained 30 doctors from around the world in burn and trauma treatment, and has developed new medicines, said Dr. David Herndon of UTMB, which also got $12.5 million and $2 million for a matching grant program. College of the Mainland, a community college in Texas City, has established the Gulf Coast Safety Institute, along with a new degree program in occupational safety and health technology, said Monica O’Neal, who directs the college’s foundation. The college got $5 million and $2 million for a matching grant program.
