Mmmaybe not…BP up for Safety Award, Ceremony Quietly Postponed

May 7th, 2010. By Hunter West

If it wasn’t so tragic—with loss of life and the almost certain environmental threat—the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon would have taken on a completely unexpected spin with an irony so delicious you could taste it.

Instead, it’s just sad.

That’s because BP, the multinational oil company that had leased the Deepwater Horizon and is now scrambling to stem the flow of millions of gallons of crude oil beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, was a favorite to win an environmental award last Monday that celebrated the safety and efficiency of the offshore drilling industry.

Needless to say, in the wake of the ongoing crisis, that ceremony was quietly postponed.

Somebody is thinking at the federal Minerals Management Service, the sponsor of the awards. Whomever handles their public relations over there deserves a raise in pay and a pat on the back, as going through with the ceremony in light of what has happened would be a gaffe of major proportions capable of reverberating around the world.

Can you imagine? Everybody from Jon Stewart to Jay Leno would be all over it. If people are already saddened and angered over the accident and the environmental impact, such an ill-advised decision to forge ahead with a self-serving glad-fest would leave the rest of us seeing red as we watch the Gulf of Mexico turn brown, as Mother Earth bleeds green.

Make no mistake, in any other scenario and at any other time the annual Industry SAFE Awards would be—and is—an important incentive for an industry that plays with fire as far as the environment is concerned. Safety, and environmental stewardship needs to be rewarded. And as much as we are consumed by the aftermath of the explosion claiming the Deepwater Horizon, there are other drilling rigs out there that are intact, sound and doing what they should be doing.

If there is a silver lining to any of this, it is the fact that this accident happened when it did. Everyone talks about ironies over this accident, and there are plenty:

The accident occurred just weeks after the Obama Administration announced a long-sought-after expansion of offshore drilling…

The Deepwater Horizon sank on Earth Day…

And now, the hastily postponed Industry SAFE Awards event.

That said, if an accident of this magnitude was bound to happen, it’s good that it happened now. The last major explosion and oil spill from an offshore drilling rig occurred decades ago, as did the sinking of the Exxon Valdez.

To many of us, the Exxon Valdez represents a series of headlines and news reports going back 21 years. But to those who live and work in the oil slick’s wake, the after effects of that oil spill are still being felt. It’s incredible, but true.

And it took an event like the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, to revisit all these stories of past accidents and the lasting impact, the legacy they have left behind for generations to come.

Let’s face it, when all is going well we get complacent.

Look at NASA.

The space agency pulled up its socks after the horrendous Apollo One fire that killed three astronauts while on the ground. That tragic accident was partially offset by the heroic efforts of NASA, and other technicians and engineers (including some from Canada) that worked to bring the astronauts of Apollo 13 home.

The successful deployment of the Space Shuttle program was also a feel-good for NASA and Americans who had grown used to success in space.

Then came the Challenger explosion. The ‘O’ rings in the solid rocket boosters had become damaged and brittle in the frozen air the night before the launch. The Challenger should never have been launched that day. But NASA, critics argued, had become complacent. In spite of the inherent danger of space travel, things had been going so well…

Americans cheered when the shuttles eventually got back into the stratosphere. All was well. And then, Columbia. Complacency had again set in. No one had thought of the potential for catastrophic damage when foam (harmless foam!) strikes at high speed. But then, water is soft when you dip your toe into it. But at high speed, water feels like concrete.

The point is, such accidents shake off the complacency and reminds us just how dangerous all this is. The inherent risk, coupled with the horror and reality of a major accident, snaps everyone back to attention and shakes off the complacency.

That is why, as tragic as the explosion, sinking and environmental impact wrought by the Deepwater Horizon is—if it were going to happen, it’s good that it’s happened now and well ahead of the expansion of offshore drilling.

It’s a wake-up call.

Let’s just hope the spill can be contained and cleaned, and the environmental impact minimized.

As for the Industry SAFE Awards, they will likely be handed out-quietly—at a later date. BP, a finalist for an award, may or may not take home a SAFE.

Just as well—for what they really want to win, at this juncture, is the respect of humankind were BP to win the battle against the wayward oil, get it stopped and get it cleaned up before permanent damage to wildlife and ecosystems is wrought.

If BP can pull the rabbit out of this hat, they’ll be considered heroes.

It beats having the trophy.

The expansion of offshore drilling has been announced and is coming. This accident has happened. You can’t turn back the clock.

Instead, let’s LEARN from this disaster—so we can either prevent future disasters, or have the capacity to more quickly stem and mitigate the fallout of any future accidents.

BP Oil Spill Legal Implications

Even though BP did not own the Deepwater Horizon outright, their lease arrangement with the doomed entity and their role as its operator makes BP responsible financially for the cleanup, a fact reiterated by President Obama when he visited the area over the weekend. To that end, under existing federal law BP and its minority partners in the well—Anadarko and Mitsui—will have to pay the freight for the cleanup.

That bill could be in the billions, if not hundreds of billions of dollars. 

What isn’t clear is BP’s capacity, or responsibility for individual losses brought about by the spill: losses suffered by resort operators, fishers, bait shops and the angling industry in general.

According to CNN, BP has stated that it will cover all ‘legitimate claims.’

However, a federal rule limits the payouts for economic damages stemming from an oil spill to $75 million. Under that statute, BP’s liability would be capped to that amount, after which a federal fund kicks in designed to cover an additional $1 billion in losses.

But there could be a catch for BP: the $75 million cap assumes zero violations related to an accident. Industry analysts say that rarely happens, and expect BP will likely be found at fault, in some capacity for the spill.

If the worst-case scenario happens, and Gulf currents drive the spill down around Florida’s southern tip and up the East coast, the impact on lives and livelihoods could be staggering. Beaches could be closed. The state tourism industry could take a hit.

Lawsuits will fly.

Who will pay?

Stay tuned…

Tags: BP Oil Spill, Deepwater Horizon, Environmental Damage, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Drilling, Oil Spill

This was posted on Friday, May 7th, 2010 at 2:29 pm and is filed under Accidents, Emerging Issues, Environment . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.