"First Spill Trial Witness: BP Put Cost Cuts Over Safety"

"BP Plc fostered a culture that put cost-cutting over safety before the deadly 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a noted forensic engineer said in the first day of testimony in the federal civil trial centered on the disaster."



"'There is ample evidence of intense pressure within the system to save time and money,' said Bob Bea, co-founder of the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at the University of California, Berkeley. 'With stress and pressure come sacrifices to safety.'

Bea was the first witness for the plaintiffs, the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Gulf Coast states suing Macondo well owner BP, rig owner Transocean Ltd and well cement provider Halliburton Co."

Kristen Hays reports for Reuters February 27, 2013.

SEE ALSO:

"BP Executive Says Transocean, Not BP, Was in Charge of Safety on Deepwater Horizon" (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

"BP Trial: Witness Says Investigation was Incomplete" (Wall St. Journal blog)

"'The Rig's on Fire! I Told You This Was Gonna Happen!'" (Mother Jones)

Source: Reuters, 02/27/2013