Before rig explosion, BP pumped chemical mixture into well, contractor says

In the hours before the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, BP pumped into the well an extraordinarily large quantity of an unusual chemical mixture, a contractor on the rig testified Monday.

The injection of the dense, gray fluid was meant to flush drilling mud from the hole, according to the testimony before a government panel investigating the April 20 accident. But the more than 400 barrels used were roughly double the usual quantity, said Leo Lindner, a drilling fluid specialist for contractor MI-Swaco.

Ronnie Penton, an attorney for one of the rig workers, said in an interview after the hearing that the double-sized dose of spacer fluid, also known as a "pill," skewed a crucial test of pressure in the well just hours before the blowout. Based on the test, BP concluded it was safe to continue displacing the heavy mud from the well in favor of much lighter sea water.

"That large pill skewed the testing," Penton said.

www.washingtonpost.com...

This story just gets weirder and weirder, which usually means it's a conspiracy of some sort.

BP should definately be prosecuted, however we all know that's not going to happen.

Here's another sad story though

BP had hundreds of barrels of the two chemicals on hand and needed to dispose of the material, Lindner testified. By first flushing it into the well, the company could take advantage of an exemption in an environmental law that otherwise would have prohibited it from discharging the hazardous waste into the Gulf of Mexico, Lindner said.

Who knows how often this happens, this could be happening weekly!!!

More proof that BP isn't being exactly honest, not that that's any surprise. Good find.

Take a read of this guys, pretty much lays it out.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

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