MARCH 24, 2011
Government-Funded Study Finds Blowout Preventer Couldn’t Handle Worst-Case Scenario in Gulf; BP Gets a Small Boost
By BEN CASSELMAN And RUSSELL GOLD
BP PLC came within 1.4 inches or less of preventing the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, say engineers studying the safety device that failed in last year’s Gulf of Mexico disaster.
The device, known as a blowout preventer, was a massive set of valves that sat on the sea floor nearly a mile beneath the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which floated on the surface. It was equipped with powerful shears designed to cut through pipe and seal off the well in an emergency. Why the device failed has been one of the central mysteries of last year’s disaster.