According to the investigation report by the U.S. Coast Guard and Ocean Energy Authority, the cement for reinforcing the oil well was the main reason for this disaster. Also, the Macondo well already had financial problems and the monitoring devices appeared abnormal. Indeed, the negative growth in the past meant that the company was seeking money badly. Halliburton and possibly BP decided not to wait for cement stability test results and poorly redesigned the cement mixture. The crisis was caused by their decision, because they underestimated the risk that they might have.
This essay discusses about the situations of the company and tries to reveal what are the reasons are responsible for this failure. The details of the system failure are also discussed in this essay. Along with the discussions about the failure, the recommendations are also given in this essay (Alvania, 2011). Reasons of project failure In the Gulf of Mexico BP was operating their oil production unit, which faces the biggest disaster in April 2010. There were several reasons, which can be categorized as technical failure and decisional failure for this disaster from the companies end (Bozeman, 2011).
history. Deepwater Horizon was initially diagnosed as a disastrous and fatal accident but the idea of a simple malfunction was quickly rebutted. Questionable similarities to the 2005 tragic Texas City, Texas explosion earned the company a reputation for consistently neglecting safety. While faulty equipment and technical issues ultimately caused the oil spill, it was the company’s operational leadership inadequacies that were further investigated. Safety recommendations from the Texas City report were ignored
A shining example of this type of response can be seen in the BP Oil Spill. This manmade disaster affected thousands of individuals and businesses in the Gulf Coast region as well as creating a cascade affect in ecological, healthcare and economical stability throughout the United States. Like ripples created in a pond when a tiny pebble is thrown in the after affects; experienced by the individual as well as the communities; generated from the original event are similar though they may be experienced at lesser degrees nationwide. The BP Oil Spill news reads like a Steven Segal movie script. It begins on a beautiful spring day (April 20th) with a failed preventer and ends with mass destruction of the surrounding environment and a way of life for those live in the Gulf area.
11 workers were never found however, even with the search efforts, and were presumed dead. The oilrig burned till April 22nd, when it sunk to the bottom of the gulf. On April 24th, oil is found leaking from the well, this came as a shock to many experts on the matter and further research using underwater cameras showed that the well was spewing out an estimated amount of 1,000 barrels of oil per day. It was only now that the engineers came to know that the valve mechanism, the blowout preventer, which is intended to stop the flow of the crude oil from the well, had failed to activate. As the days progressed, more shocking news reached the US coastguard, who have reported that the oil spill rate is around 5,000 barrels per day.
MAJOR FAULTY DECISIONS BY CEO OF BP-LED TO A DETERIORATED IMAGE FOR THE WHOLE COMPANY Much before the Deepwater Horizon oil spill BP’s image was on the path toward downfall already for its safety, ethics and environmental record was abysmal. For the many previous disasters i.e. Texas City Refinery explosion 2005, Alaska’s Oilspill 2006, Oil Platform Atlantis’ rupture 2008, were all significant examples of BP’s inefficient management. The accident showed a clear reliability failure which resulted into a loss of hydrostatic control of the well and the BP’s preventer failure to restrict the flow from the well which caused major disaster as it exacerbated the release of hydrocarbons followed by failure of BP’s emergency facilities. In the late 1990s, CEO Lord John Brown being the first company executive to highlight the existence of climate change spent over $200 million dollars on advertising campaigns to promoted CSR.
These are the causes to this catastrophic accident. The master of the tanker Exxon-Valdez, poor choices had directly influenced the tanker’s grounding, which caused the oil spill. The master’s first mistake was leaving the bridge when the Exxon-Valdez had taken a detour out off the proper trade lanes to avoid ice. According to the National Safety Board of Transportation’s report, “the master was the only officer on board who possessed the required Federal pilotage endorsement, he was required by Federal law and regulations to be on the bridge” (NTSB 116). The master knew that he was suppose to be on the bridge while travelling the Valdez Narrows even if the risky detour was not taken.
The ships captain had a drinking problem and on the night of the incident he was unfit to be in charge of the tanker and so left an unqualified crewmember in control. This inexperienced crewmember wouldn’t have collided with Bligh Reef if the ships RAYCAS radar had not been broken and disabled for more than a year before the disaster. The incorrect crewmember being in charge of the tanker (the third mate instead of Captain Joseph Hazelwood) and broken equipment played a huge role in the collision. Environmental Impacts Marine creatures were affected greatly by the spill as the toxic oil disrupted the food chain; the oil massively destroyed plankton numbers as it prevented sunlight from getting through the water (Plankton need to sunlight to grow, reproduce and ultimately end up as food for fish). Recent scientific studies have found that the fish developed gross deformities such as extra fins, or suffered from retarded development.
1. Does Monsanto maintain an ethical culture that can effectively respond to various stakeholders? In the past Monsanto did not show great ethical behavior when they created Agent Orange; than in 1970’s lawsuit arose from Vietnamese war.. They did stand up and pay for the Veterans after the war since their chemicals made them sick. The next incident was around the 1960’s with the New Mnsanto it was tained quite quick when the cover-up of toxic dumping into a creek.
Executive orders along with legislation are a response to the event. BP dismissed their Chief Executive Officer after suffering from a media communications nightmare. World outcry to boycott BP service stations is only one out of several backlashes that face BP. BP is being made an example of and other companies are taking note and improving the way they conduct business. It is necessary for the reader to understand what went wrong in order to get a good understanding on the event that will be referred to often in the many years to come.