Halliburton cement was identified as a major contributor to the blowout of BP's Macondo well by a presidential oil spill commission. Image: CC ideum/Flickr

A cement mixture used to seal BP’s Macondo well was tested by Halliburton and found to be unstable, but the company went ahead and used it anyway. Failure of the cement casing is considered a probable cause of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010. Halliburton’s negligence is being investigated by a presidential commission and could result in action against the company by the Justice Department.

Halliburton knew cement was unstable

Halliburton’s decision to use the unstable cement is one of the first conclusions drawn by the commission investigating the cause of the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The Associated Press reports that its finding conflicts with earlier claims made by Halliburton that tests showed the cement mixture was stable. Halliburton and BP have been blaming each other for the disaster. BP has maintained the cement mixture failed to keep oil and gas from blowing out the Macondo well. Halliburton said BP’s well design and drilling operation were responsible.

Cement critical to prevent oil well blowouts

The cement mixture being investigated by the oil spill commission is a product used in oil drilling to secure a metal casing around pipes and the drill bit as they penetrate reservoirs of oil and gas beneath the ocean floor. The cement is also supposed to keep oil and gas from blowing out the well. The Los Angeles Times reports that in a section of the Macondo well 13,000 feet under the ocean floor, BP chose to use a cement mixture made and recommended by Halliburton. However, getting the right mix can be hit and miss, and the cement must be tested frequently for stability.

Halliburton cement fails every test

The oil spill commission sent samples of the Halliburton cement recipe to a Chevron laboratory for testing. The New York Times reports that the Halliburton mixture failed all nine stability tests designed to mimic conditions at the BP well. The commission concluded that the data “strongly suggests” the Halliburton cement may have contributed to the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico 2010. A small amount of the actual cement mixture used on the Macondo well survived the disaster and is being held as evidence for a criminal investigation.

Sources

Associated Press

Los Angeles Times

New York Times

The BP oil leak is not a culprit in recently discovered dolphin carcasses. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

The BP oil leak is already being named one of the greatest environmental disasters of all time.  Currently, BP and others are racing to come up with a way to contain the oil leaking from the damaged well, but nothing seems to be working yet.  Recently, carcasses of some sea creatures, namely dolphins and turtles, were found in the Gulf of Mexico, and oil poisoning is suspected as the cause of their deaths.  It will be some time before the effects are contained, and it will take quite the cash advance to pay for the damage.

BP oil leak didn’t cause dolphin and turtle deaths

Recently discovered dolphin and turtle carcasses from the Gulf of Mexico were tested to see if they had expired to due effects of the BP oil leak. The necropsies (autopsy for anything that isn’t human), according to Reuters, concluded that they did not die from oil contamination or ingestion.  The bodies of more than 100 sea turtles and 7 dolphins were discovered around the Louisiana coast, and because the BP oil spill is expected to wreak havoc in the region, it was naturally looked into. Dolphins have created a major push for ocean conservation over past decades.

Costs mount on BP Oil Leak

The initial explosion of the Deepwater oil rig claimed 11 lives. The loss of the offshore drilling platform and the expected fallout have led BP, or British Petroleum, to project a loss of more than of $450 million over the incident. The other shareholders, TransOcean and Halliburton, are engaging in a blame war over the incident.

Congress to raise liability limits

A bill was recently introduced into Congress to raise the liability limit imposed on such an event to more than $10 billion, from the current cap on liabilities in such a matter of $75 million, according to the New York Times.  The bill was introduced opposed by Senate Republicans, in that it would discourage oil exploration by corporations. Democrats are for it because they want corporations taking responsibility for their actions. The White House sided with the Democrats in a manner that is up to interpretation.

Congressional and legal inquiries are looking into whether Halliburton caused the Gulf oil spill. Image from Flickr.

As the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to spread, allegations are coming to light that this may be the Halliburton oil spill. BP has claimed responsibility for paying for the oil spill cleanup, and Transocean was operating the oil drilling platform – but both may now be looking to Halliburton for oil spill answers.

How Halliburton was involved with the oil spill

At the time Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean and being leased to BP, exploded and began the oil spill, Halliburton was working as a contractor. Halliburton had been hired by Transocean to cement the oil well. Cementing an oil well is a process where a specialty cement is pumped into an oil well to plug it and prevent an oil spill and combustible gas from leaking. If the cement is cracked, improperly pumped, or improperly mixed, natural gas and oil can push through the cement. Halliburton had just finished cementing the well when Deepwater Horizon exploded. Halliburton will need more than payday loans to prove it wasn’t the company’s fault.

Halliburton oil spill concerns

Halliburton oil spill concerns are centered on this oil-rig-cementing process. Halliburton is the largest oil well cementing business in the world, and the process accounts for 11 percent – or $ 1.7 billion – of the company’s business. When the cementing process goes wrong, a Halliburton oil spill is usually the result. A 2007 study found that “cementing was a factor in 18 of 39 well blowouts in the Gulf of Mexico over a 14-year period.” In other words, Halliburton cementing issues are more common than equipment failure and pipe failure when it comes to the cause of Gulf of Mexico oil spills. Halliburton oil spills have also happened in Australia and other countries.

Halliburton oil spill lawsuits

There are multiple lawsuits based on the possibility of the Halliburton oil spill. Natalie Roshto, wife to one of the Transocean employees who was killed, has filed a lawsuit against Halliburton. This lawsuit claims that the explosion and ensuing oil spill were the fault of Halliburton. The lawsuit specifically states that “prior to the explosion, (Halliburton) was engaged in cementing operations of the well and well cap and, upon information and belief, improperly and negligently performed these duties, which was a cause of the explosion.”

Halliburton does not claim oil spill responsibility

Though BP has agreed to pay for part of the cleanup of the oil spill, and Transocean is taking responsibility for a portion of the oil spill, Halliburton has not claimed any responsibility. Halliburton has only confirmed that the corporation had just completed cementing about 20 hours before the explosion.

Sources:

Financial Times
The Atlantic
Wall Street Journal
CBS News

Democratic Senator Al Franken of Minnesota votes for people over corporations. (Photo: flickr.com)

Following one of the more vile incidents against a woman in American history, the Senate has voted in favor of Sen. Al Franken’s amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that gives the government the right to withhold defense contracts (no small cash loans, either) from companies like Halliburton/KBR (not just that company) that deny employees from taking “workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court,” reports Think Progress.

If you aren’t already aware, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR co-workers in Iraq during the year 2005. After the tragic incident, she was imprisoned in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water, or a bed. If small cash loans could have bought a human conscience, perhaps her captors could have found it within themselves to stop.

Talk and Lose Your Job

Furthermore, she was told that if she went against the company’s mandatory arbitration clause and sought treatment and justice outside, she’d lose her job. Apparently Jones was not alone in receiving this type of treatment. Considering that multiple source tend to corroborate that Halliburton/KBR’s record with cases that went to their “independent” arbitrator, one wonders why they even bothered with the charade of mandatory arbitration clauses.

Here’s What Sen. Franken Proposed

And Here’s the GOP Rebuttal

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) called it “a political attack directed at Halliburton,” and Franken’s response (read the amendment yourself) was that “This amendment does not single out a single contractor. This amendment would defund any contractor that refuses to give a victim of rape their day in court.”

(Photo: wikipedia.org)

For the record, here are the 30 who voted against the Franken amendment:

• Alexander (R-TN)
• Barrasso (R-WY)
• Bond (R-MO)
• Brownback (R-KS)
• Bunning (R-KY)
• Burr (R-NC)
• Chambliss (R-GA)
• Coburn (R-OK)
• Cochran (R-MS)
• Corker (R-TN)
• Cornyn (R-TX)
• Crapo (R-ID)
• DeMint (R-SC)
• Ensign (R-NV)
• Enzi (R-WY)
• Graham (R-SC)
• Gregg (R-NH)
• Inhofe (R-OK)
• Isakson (R-GA)
• Johanns (R-NE)
• Kyl (R-AZ)
• McCain (R-AZ)
• McConnell (R-KY)
• Risch (R-ID)
• Roberts (R-KS)
• Sessions (R-AL)
• Shelby (R-AL)
• Thune (R-SD)
• Vitter (R-LA)
• Wicker (R-MS)

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If you’re interested in telling your senator what you think, I encourage you to do so. You elected these officials, and they are accountable to you. If you need small cash loans to pay for the ever-increasing cost of postage or Internet bandwidth, click the button to apply. Be a citizen of a representative democracy.

Jaime Leigh Jones’ Response

Jones made an appearance with Sen. Franken following the vote. “It means the world to me,” she said. “It means that every tear shed to go public and repeat my story over and over again to make a difference for other women was worth it.”

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