Originally posted by Sheila McNulty - Financial Times - September 24, 2009
The US government has let pass another deadline for BP to come into compliance with federal safety standards. And, once again, the UK oil giant has asked for yet more time to comply - a request that may, as explained below - expose the company to considerable legal risk.
It has been four years since BP’s biggest refinery, in Texas City, exploded; the accident killed 15 people and injured hundreds more. And the company says it has invested enormous amounts of money and spent considerable time improving safety at the facility.
Yet, here we are, with the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration noting that an audit had identified “systemic deviations from industry standards” at the facility that have yet to be addressed. OSHA also outlined in detail other “areas of concern”, including a failure four years after the blast to complete a determination of which alarm functions in each unit were critical to process safety.
The deadline to come into complete compliance was Wednesday. Yet, here is what OSHA had to say about where BP was:
"Fifteen people died in 2005 as a result of the explosion at this BP refinery in Texas City, Texas. Secretary Solis has made it clear that the Department of Labor takes worker safety very seriously, and that the Department will enforce the law to ensure such tragedies are avoided. OSHA has received BP’s petition for modification of abatement request, in reference to the company’s 2005 settlement agreement, and is presently taking that request under advisement as part of its on-going inspection at BP."
The Department of Transport granted several extensions between 2006 and 2008 waived a deadline for BP to perform high-tech maintenance and corrosion checks on Alaska pipelines, after a spill from a corroded pipeline.
Well, as commendable as OSHA is in calling out BP on its continued lapses, the body is not getting results by going easy on the oil giant. OSHA said it is considering BP’s request to delay compliance.
But more time is not what BP needs; real penalties are what it is going to take to comply. Brent Coon, the lawyer who represented victims of the explosion, noted that complying with OSHA’s safety regulations was part of BP’s settlement with the Department of Justice to end the chances of criminal action in relation to the explosion. He told a news conference that, by missing the deadline, BP had opened the door for US authorities to set aside that plea agreement.
Mr Coon said it would probably take some time for the US to decide what it was going to do as the issue worked its way through the system. In the meantime, he said, he hoped the Obama Administration would provide additional funding for oversight of refineries. These refineries, he said, do a poor job of self-policing.
Here, for the record, is BP’s statement:
"BP places the safe, compliant and reliable operations of all of our manufacturing facilities as our highest priority. Since 2005, we have made substantial investments at Texas City in our people, our work processes, and in upgrading our facilities."
"BP Products has completed more than 550 OSHA citation abatement requirements and process safety related recommendations and has significantly reduced hazards on-site and off-site. We believe we are in full compliance with our commitments. We continue to work with OSHA through the appropriate processes to resolve any expressed concerns."
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