Whistleblower Data Could Have Prevented BP Gulf Disaster
By James Donahue
A story by Greg Palast, one of the best investigative journalists still in the field, recently posted a report in the web publication Truthdig that everybody needs to read. The story puts a lot of the blame for the 2010 British Petroleum blowout in the Gulf of Mexico on U.S. Government officials who prosecuted whistleblower Chelsea (Bradley) Manning for releasing military documents to Wikileaks instead of reading them.
The Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers, sank the oil rig and caused a sea-floor oil gusher that flowed wide open for 87 days, was determined to have been caused by a faulty “quick-dry” cement used to cap the well once it began flowing.
What the document released by Manning in December, 2010 revealed was that British Petroleum, the other companies involved in the Gulf project, and high officials in the Bush Administration all knew, was that another BP offshore rig operating in the Caspian Sea sustained a similar “blow-out” in September 2008 because of attempting to use the same kind of formula to make a concrete seal.
Manning, who formerly served as an army intelligence officer when he was known as Pvt. Bradley Manning, leaked secret State Department cables from the U. S. ambassador to Azeri resulting from a government investigation of the Caspian Sea disaster.
Palast wrote that in both disasters, “the immediate culprit was the failure of the cement, in both cases caused by the use – misuse – of nitrogen in the cement mix, a money-saving but ultimately deadly measure intended to speed the cement’s drying.”
He wrote that the message from the ambassador was sent to the State Department, then headed by Condoleezza Rice, a former Chevron board member. Chevron was a partner in the Caspian Sea well project. She in turn kept the information secret. That decision made it possible for BP to botch an even bigger project in the Gulf of Mexico.
It became the worst oil spill disaster in world history. Not only did it cost the lives of 11 oil rig workers, but it destroyed the fishing and tourist industry all along the gulf coast for years, if not centuries. Crude oil got in the Gulf Stream and was carried all through the Atlantic Ocean, affecting sea life everywhere.
It is estimated that the spill discharged nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil into gulf waters. After BP declared the well officially sealed in September, 2010, an inspection in 2012 found that the well site was still leaking!
Instead of being commended for revealing the truth in the matter, Manning was sentenced to a 35-year prison term for espionage, because he disclosed government secrets.
The way we look at this, the real culprits were the government and oil company personnel who withheld the Caspian Sea blow-out secret and allowed it to happen again, this time with even more disastrous results.
We perceive Manning as an American hero. She should be set free and paid handsomely for daring to take the action she did. Those other scum-bags, including Rice, are the ones who deserve to be locked up.
By James Donahue
A story by Greg Palast, one of the best investigative journalists still in the field, recently posted a report in the web publication Truthdig that everybody needs to read. The story puts a lot of the blame for the 2010 British Petroleum blowout in the Gulf of Mexico on U.S. Government officials who prosecuted whistleblower Chelsea (Bradley) Manning for releasing military documents to Wikileaks instead of reading them.
The Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers, sank the oil rig and caused a sea-floor oil gusher that flowed wide open for 87 days, was determined to have been caused by a faulty “quick-dry” cement used to cap the well once it began flowing.
What the document released by Manning in December, 2010 revealed was that British Petroleum, the other companies involved in the Gulf project, and high officials in the Bush Administration all knew, was that another BP offshore rig operating in the Caspian Sea sustained a similar “blow-out” in September 2008 because of attempting to use the same kind of formula to make a concrete seal.
Manning, who formerly served as an army intelligence officer when he was known as Pvt. Bradley Manning, leaked secret State Department cables from the U. S. ambassador to Azeri resulting from a government investigation of the Caspian Sea disaster.
Palast wrote that in both disasters, “the immediate culprit was the failure of the cement, in both cases caused by the use – misuse – of nitrogen in the cement mix, a money-saving but ultimately deadly measure intended to speed the cement’s drying.”
He wrote that the message from the ambassador was sent to the State Department, then headed by Condoleezza Rice, a former Chevron board member. Chevron was a partner in the Caspian Sea well project. She in turn kept the information secret. That decision made it possible for BP to botch an even bigger project in the Gulf of Mexico.
It became the worst oil spill disaster in world history. Not only did it cost the lives of 11 oil rig workers, but it destroyed the fishing and tourist industry all along the gulf coast for years, if not centuries. Crude oil got in the Gulf Stream and was carried all through the Atlantic Ocean, affecting sea life everywhere.
It is estimated that the spill discharged nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil into gulf waters. After BP declared the well officially sealed in September, 2010, an inspection in 2012 found that the well site was still leaking!
Instead of being commended for revealing the truth in the matter, Manning was sentenced to a 35-year prison term for espionage, because he disclosed government secrets.
The way we look at this, the real culprits were the government and oil company personnel who withheld the Caspian Sea blow-out secret and allowed it to happen again, this time with even more disastrous results.
We perceive Manning as an American hero. She should be set free and paid handsomely for daring to take the action she did. Those other scum-bags, including Rice, are the ones who deserve to be locked up.