BP's Atlantis Oil Platform (Also Situated in Gulf of Mexico): Another Catastrophic Accident Waiting to Happen? Facts on Atlantis, BP, and the Administration

May 17th, 2010

BP’s Atlantis: Another Catastrophic Accident Waiting to Happen?

The Gulf of Mexico is currently reeling from the human and environmental tragedy unfolding after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, an offshore oil platform. The Horizon, operated by BP, exploded on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers, injuring many others and spilling millions of gallons of oil into the ocean.

While the cause of the Horizon explosion is being investigated, it is important to note that BP has a devastating history of accidents and evading government oversight. Worse yet, an even bigger tragedy in the Gulf could be looming. An internal BP email admits that a “catastrophic” accident is possible at another one of its platforms, the BP Atlantis. An accident at this platform could result in a spill that is many times larger than the one currently unfolding from the Deepwater Horizon.

BP Atlantis poses a serious, immediate and potentially irreparable threat to the Gulf of Mexico’s marine environment, oil workers and communities. BP’s Atlantis platform became active during the Bush administration in October of 2007. Located in “Hurricane Alley,” more than 150 miles from New Orleans at a water depth of more than 7,000 feet, it is one of the deepest moored semisubmersible oil and gas platforms in the world. In August of 2008, a BP contractor made a startling discovery about Atlantis: The company was operating the massive Atlantis platform without proper up-to-date and engineer-approved documentation. Some of the problems included:

* More than 6,000 critical documents — including those for pipelines, flowlines, wellheads and other important systems — did not have the required engineering documentation.
* Over 85 percent of the project’s subsea piping and instrument diagrams, critical documents for operating the platform, were not approved by engineers.
* Many of its safety shutdown system logic diagrams were not up to date.
* Over 95 percent of its subsea welding documents had no final engineering approval, calling into question the safety of the welds.

Workers clean oil from the Horizon spill from a beach in South Pass, Louisiana. Photo by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Atlantis is no small threat. An internal BP email characterized the situation as having the potential for “catastrophic operator errors.” Worse yet, Atlantis is operating in deeper water than the Deepwater Horizon. A worst-case scenario oil spill from Atlantis would exceed the Exxon Valdez spill in only two days, and be many times larger than the spill from the Horizon explosion.

BP’s Big Oil Profits
The BP group is the largest oil and gas producer and one of the largest gasoline retailers in the United States, and in 2008 was the fourth-biggest company in the world. In 2009, BP was the largest producer in the Gulf of Mexico and had pre-tax profits of $25.1 billion.

BP Evades Compliance and the Federal Government Fails to Take Action
Despite questions from Food & Water Watch and Members of Congress, BP has chosen to deny the problems at Atlantis. The company went so far as to send a letter to Congress saying that it only learned of the allegations recently and claimed they were unsubstantiated. However, BP’s own documents show that BP has known about these problems for years.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS), the primary federal agency responsible for ensuring that all aspects of oil, gas, leasing, exploration, development and production activities are conducted safely, hasn’t been doing its job. The agency did almost nothing when the whistleblower and Food & Water Watch first reported the problems at BP Atlantis and alerted members of Congress.

An aerial view of the progress of the Horizon oil spill off the coast of Louisiana as of May 9, 2010. Photo by NASA.

It was only after 19 members of Congress requested an investigation that MMS said it would conduct an investigation starting in March 2010. By May 2010, however, according to an agency response to a Food & Water Watch Freedom of Information Act request, the agency admitted that it had not and would not take any steps to investigate.

Take Action to Shut Down BP Atlantis
Tell President Obama to shut down Atlantis. Given the seriousness of the situation, production at the Atlantis platform must be immediately suspended until it can be proven safe.

In addition, President Obama needs to order a review of all deepwater platforms in operation and overhaul offshore drilling regulations to reflect public interests, not private profits. Take action today by going to spillthetruth.org.

Visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/atlantis for more information. Read more
Monday, May 17th, 2010
Food & Water Watch Sues Feds for Ignoring Problems at Operating BP Platform
Launches “Spill the Truth” Campaign, Puts MMS Under Scrutiny to Close BP Atlantis Platform Amid Safety Concerns
“Catastrophic Operator Errors” Could Be Next Gulf Disaster

New Orleans, La.—National consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch filed suit today in a Houston federal court seeking a temporary injunction to halt operations of BP’s massive Atlantis oil drilling platform until critical safety documents are produced.

The agency, along with a former BP document controls subcontractor, maintains the Department of the Interior has allowed BP Atlantis to operate without documented, approved final engineering drawings considered critical to safe operation. Read more