A Look Back at the Deepwater Horizon Explosion
For the North Charleston auto accident lawyers it is hard to believe that his been over a year since the British Petroleum (BP) Oil Spill that devastated America's Gulf Coast. A White House energy advisor called it the "worst environmental disaster the U.S. has faced," and it is still very much effecting coastal states, not only in terms of the environment and wildlife, but also economically when one thinks of the formerly thriving tourism and fishing industries in the area.
While much attention over the past year has been focused on the above issues, it seems many have forgotten the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon that incited the three month spew of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, killed 11 workers, and caused serious injuries to 17 others working at the offshore site. Familiar with on the job injuries and deaths, the experienced lawyers at Howell and Christmas, LLC know that the families, communities, and colleagues of the deceased workers have certainly not forgotten their loved ones.
Prior to the explosion that caused the deaths and injuries of Deepwater Horizon workers, the U.S. Coast Guard had issued 18 pollution citations between 2000 and 2010, and had investigated 16 fires and other safety incidents. Also, according to a New York Times article from July 2010, there was a confidential audit conducted by BP seven months before the explosion, and the findings were horrendous. "According, to the September 2009 [audit], four BP officials discovered that Transocean, the rig’s owner, had left 390 repairs undone, including many that were 'high priority,' and would require a total of more than 3,500 hours of labor. It is unclear how many of the problems remained by the day of the catastrophe."
In a post-explosion investigation by a six-member government panel, crew members described risky conditions and failures in the weeks leading up to the disaster, including power losses, computer crashes, leaky emergency equipment, and the almost unbelievable fact that the general safety alarm was turned off to avoid waking up the crew with late-night sirens and emergency lights.
Now, it can never be said that if the alarm system had been activated the lives lost would have been saved, but the lack of a fully functioning alarm system would have certainly aided in the evacuation of the rig.
Because the deceased and injured workers spending at least, if not more than, 30 percent of their time working on an oil rig, they, or their families, are entitled to file lawsuits against BP, rig operator Transocean, and other rig subcontractors, like Haliburton, for benefits and damages under the Jones Act, which requires the owners of ships and oil rigs to pay reparations to families of those injured or killed in “unseaworthy” vessels or under unsafe conditions.
More Blog Posts: Jones Act and General Maritime Law
