BOEMRE Releases Report of Investigation on BP’s Atlantis Platform
WASHINGTON –
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and
Enforcement (BOEMRE) today released the findings of its
investigation into allegations that BP Exploration and
Oil, Inc. (BP) did not maintain required copies of
engineer-approved drawings for its Atlantis oil and gas
platform operating in the Gulf of Mexico. The
investigation stemmed from an April 2009 lawsuit filed
under the False
Claims Act by a former BP contractor. The
former contractor alleged that BP did not properly
maintain the engineer-approved “as built” drawings of
systems and structures aboard the Atlantis facility. The
contractor alleged that the absence of the documentation
created increased safety risks for the facility and to
its personnel.
The investigation included interviews of 29 individuals,
analysis of more than 3,400 engineering drawings and
related documents, and review of hundreds of additional
documents. Based on a thorough review of the evidence,
the investigation found the majority of the allegations
to be unfounded, but did find that there were a number
of problems with the way that BP organized, stored, and
labeled engineering drawings and documents. BOEMRE
found no evidence that these documentation deficiencies
created specific unsafe conditions on the Atlantis
production platform. BOEMRE concluded that Mr. Abbott’s
allegations that Atlantis operations personnel lacked
access to critical, engineer-approved drawings were
without merit and that his allegations about false
submissions by BP to BOEMRE were unfounded.
“This report reflects a
careful and comprehensive investigation of the
allegations by an interdisciplinary team of lawyers,
structural engineers, and other BOEMRE personnel, led by
our Investigations and Review Unit,” said BOEMRE
Director Michael R. Bromwich. “As the report makes
clear, although we found significant problems with the
way BP labeled and maintained its engineering drawings
and related documents, we found the most serious
allegations to be without merit, including the
suggestion that a lack of adequate documentation created
a serious safety risk on the Atlantic facility. We found
no credible evidence to support that claim."
During its investigation,
BOEMRE also found that BP failed to file with BOEMRE
certain required drawings depicting changes to some
production safety system components. Once BOEMRE
determined that BP had failed to file the safety system
drawings, it issued an Incident of Non-Compliance (INC)
for the infraction. BP has since provided the required
drawings to BOEMRE. BOEMRE concluded that the infraction
did not pose an immediate safety risk for the platform.
Because BP corrected the violation shortly after
issuance of the INC, BOEMRE did not refer the violation
for civil penalties. BOEMRE is in the process of
evaluating potential enhancements to its civil penalty
programs – including revision of current regulations and
changes to existing policies.
The full report can be
viewed at:
http://www.boemre.gov/iru .Contact:
BOEMRE
Public Affairs
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