October 6, 2013

BP Trial Phase 2 - Source Control

By Bruce Thompson
Remember Thad Allen telling George Stephanopoulos "George, they have been able to stop the hydrocarbons from coming up the well bore..." (0:27 of the video) during the Top Kill operation on May 28, 2010? The first week of Phase 2 of the BP trial was spent by the various actors trying to throw that hot potato to one another. What with the 16-hour news blackout and the Department of Interior drilling moratorium and the resignation of Elizabeth Birnbaum as Director of the Minerals Management service, there was a lot of news on May 27, 2010. Here is an insider's take on those events from BP's James Dupree (See pp.664-665 of the trial transcript) Q. Now, did you personally monitor the execution of Top Kill? A. Yes. I was there continuously during all the operations. Q. And how long did those operations last? A. Three days. We pumped for three days, operated for three days. Q. At any point in time while you were executing Top Kill,did you believe that Top Kill was working? A. Yes. On Day...(Read Full Article)