BP blast in 2005 could have been stopped (killed 15 workers & injured 180)

[Omaha Steve]

http://money.excite.com/ht/nw/bus/20061015/hle_bus-n15262536.html

BP blast in 2005 could have been stopped

Sunday October 15, 5:19 PM EDT

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON (Reuters) - An X-ray or a tag could have prevented a July 2005 blast at BP Plc's giant Texas refinery and saved the company $30 million (16 million pounds), an investigation concluded, according to results released on Sunday.

An X-ray of the 800-pound (360 kilogram), carbon steel elbow-shaped pipe or a tag describing its composition would have prevented it from bursting after being put in the wrong location by a contractor during a February 2005 overhaul at the Texas City refinery, according the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

The July explosion came four months after a blast at the refinery killed 15 workers and injured 180 other people, the first in a string of mishaps that has led to questions about BP's ability to manage its refining and production assets.

BP's 460,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Texas City was hit by another fire in August, triggering an unprecedented Chemical Safety Board request for BP to probe the safety programs at its five U.S. refineries.

FULL story at link above.

[Turbineguy]

1. Last week on CNBC, T Boone Pickens

mentioned BP and said they squeezed blood out of a turnip and cut their maintenance. That's why they are having problems "system wide".

[Bobbieo]

2. What does BP stand for????

Maybe Bush Petroleum??? Very aggravating to see initials in a headline or lead without spelling them out.

[Turbineguy]

5. British Petroleum

You are right. There are a lot of accronyms here with posters assuming we all know what they mean.

[mikeytherat]

6. Actually, now it stands for "Beyond Petroleum"

Yep. "BEYOND Petroleum"

:eyes:

I guess that's some space-age elixir they serve at their pumps, what with them moving beyond petroleum and all.

mikey_the_rat

[madrchsod]

3. really bad safety procedures

dead workers and 30 million...just because they did`t want to pay for more inspectors to double and triple check the instillation of the pipes. of course the contractor should have done the same.

[aquart]

4. How many places have these greedy bozos screwed up?