Deposition transcripts reveal lack of partnership between BP and U.S. during Deepwater Horizon spill
The 2010 British Petroleum (BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, known as the Deepwater Horizon disaster, was reportedly the largest that has ever happened in American waters. The broken – and subsequently destroyed – oil rig leaked petroleum into warm Atlantic Ocean for nearly three months, with almost 5 million barrels reaching the shores of Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. According to Reuters, two BP employees will soon face criminal indictments for their parts in the spill.
But, the Houston Chronicle uncovered the deposition transcripts for Marcia McNutt, head of the United States Geological Survey, where she alleges that BP and the United States government were on less than friendly terms during the recovery phase, potentially hindering efforts and exploiting the disaster.
"I didn't feel a partnership, you know, 'Let's figure out how we're going to solve the flow rate problem. Let's sit down and put the best minds from BP and the best of government and work this out'," McNutt testified, according to her deposition transcripts. "There was this tenseness. It was almost kind of a chill in the room when flow rate issues came up."
In addition, an internal email from BP sent on May 27, 2010, instructs BP employees "not to share data from the top kill operation 'outside the circle of trust." When McNutt was confronted about this during her deposition, she remarked that "it does not appear there was anyone from the [U.S.] government in the circle of trust."
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