Gas surge shut well a couple of weeks before Gulf oil spill
~Mark Schleifstein
This is a riveting piece of reporting and testimony.
~Shortly before the accident, engineers argued about whether to remove heavy drilling mud that acted as a last defense against such catastrophic kicks, and the decision to replace the mud with much lighter seawater won out.
Those are some of the new details gathered by Robert Bea, a University of California at Berkeley engineering professor better known in New Orleans as co-leader of an independent team of scientists that conducted a forensic investigation of the causes for the failure of levees and floodwalls during Hurricane Katrina.
Bea said that the first explosion occurred in the mud pit room, a room where drilling mud is mixed and stored in big bins. The two engineers responding to requests for more mud in an attempt to control the runaway well were killed instantly, he said.
That explosion also blew out the wall leading to the galley, where a party was being held.
"The party is to celebrate the Transocean Deepwater Horizon going for seven years without an accident," Bea said. Present were several BP engineers or executives, who traveled to the rig for the celebration, he said.

Oil safety agency scrutinized
~Gerard Shields
~Official: Safety ‘secondary’ to Minerals Management Service

Not Quite "Beyond Petroleum"
~Harry Shearer

Governor's Office of HSEP Please click to enlarge pdf.

How bad can the BP Failure get?

Brownie sets out to rewrite the history of Katrina
~Jarvis DeBerry