The Explosion At Texas City

2005 Refinery Explosion In Texas Killed 15, Injured 170

(CBS) 
BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, is now one of the world’s three largest oil companies, with headquarters in London and assets that stretch from Alaska to the Caspian Sea. The company got as big as it is today by acquiring old companies at cheap prices, and then relentlessly cutting costs - that according to Matt Simmons, chairman of a major energy investment banking firm.

"Their reputation as what a fabulous company they were got created because they made more money than anyone else did on old assets," Simmons says.

Asked if they did do that cutting costs, Simmons says, "Well, they had to. But I don’t think it was obvious to anybody until now you look back with the benefit of hindsight, they obviously cut way too many costs."

"Couldn’t you argue that BP had to cut costs in order to stay profitable, in order to stay in business?" Bradley asks.

"Absolutely, absolutely, but then the question becomes at what point do you basically go beyond normal cost-cutting and you’re in to reckless behavior," Simmons says.

But BP’s senior executive in charge of refineries, John Manzoni, denies that. He told lawyers in this deposition that budget cuts never compromised the safety of BP’s employees.

"I don’t believe it’s the case ever that we short-changed budgets on safety issues," Manzoni said during the deposition.

"If in this trial someone says that BP puts profits over the safety of its people, what would be your response to that?" Manzoni was asked by a lawyer.

"My response would be that is not how we run the company," he replied.

But when BP acquired the Texas City refinery from Amoco eight years ago, the plant already was in a state of disrepair. Instead of spending money to revitalize the plant, BP executives in London told their refinery managers world-wide to cut their budgets.

"Twenty-five percent of their fixed costs were cut. And when you cut that much out of a budget in a facility, you lose people, you lose equipment, you lose maintenance, you lose trainers," Merritt says. "Our investigation has shown that this was a drastic mistake.

"So, as the Texas refinery got older, and needed more maintenance, more attention to safety, BP cut the budget in those areas?" Bradley asks Merritt.

"Yes," she says.

Asked if there is a direct relationship between the budget cut and the disaster at Texas City, Merritt says, "We believe there is."

One of the best examples, she says, is on the very unit that caused the explosion. In the ten years leading up to the disaster, there had been eight major gasoline vapor releases on that unit – any one of which could have been catastrophic. Most refineries install safety devices, called flares, to burn off excess gasoline to avoid disasters. BP chose not to. Brent Coon is a Texas lawyer representing several victims suing BP. He will argue in court that by failing to install flares, the company knowingly put lives at risk.

"They knew that if they didn’t fix these thing, they were increasing the risk, unnecessarily increasing the risk, of something major happening," Coon says.

"So why were they still using them in Texas City?" Bradley asks.

"Because it cost several million dollars to get rid of them," Coon says. He says the company made about a billion dollars a year at that one plant.

"So there’s money there to replace them," Bradley asks.

"Sure. Well, Ed, the deal is you want to make a billion dollars or do you want to make $998 million? They chose to make a billion dollars," Coon says.

[refop]

It's not just BP folks. All of these oil companies need to be looked at very closely. These companies are notorious for focusing on profits to the point of compromising the safety of their employees. Management doesn't have a clue because they aren't out there in the refinery in the first place. If they do happen to find their way into the plant they disregard hazards pointed out by the operators who are there everyday due to "budget constraints" (so they can tell their boss "look at the money I saved our department") and then they get their bonus... then there are the companies that will juggle schedules so they don't have to pay the overtime. Or the supervisors who think a unit startup or shutdown is a race to see who can get the "the feed" into the unit in the shortest amount of time. Sound familiar to any of you refinery workers out there? If the American public only knew.....

Here is one company that got caught. It's just the beginning and I sincerly hope that there will be more scrutiny with these companies in the future.

I didn't see the 60 minutes program, but have been following the BP disaster since day one. Ms. Rowe, you stick to your guns and don't let this company off the hook. I wish you well in this journey.

[eduhan]

Yes, BP stepped-up and admitted responsibility. Yes, BP set aside a reported 1.6 billion to compensate the survivors and the families of the 15 that were carried out in body bags that day. And yes, BP has taken steps to clean up the facility but .... that does not heal the wounded and raise our dead.

My husband's sister was 34 years old. Susan left behind her 16 year old son, her parents, her siblings and countless other family and friends. We identified her by body parts.

And yes, I believe top BP officials should be made to clear their calendars of power lunches, golf games, and cocktail parties to sit in a courtroom and view not just the photos of the burning building and surrounding area but the true aftermath, the burned and charred bodies of those that sacrificed everything for BP's almighty profit margin.

So "YES" I applaud MS. Rowe in her efforts to keep BP from merely walking away with a slap on the hand - a reported 19 billion profit vs. 1.6 billion payout - we can all "do the math".

By going to court, Ms. Rowe is speaking for the departed and aiding in the emotional healing of the survivors and countless family and friends. Thank-you Ms. Rowe from the family of Susan Duhan Taylor. May God bless you and keep you.

And thank-you Mr. Bradley for your insightful reporting/commentary. Thank-you also CBS/60 Minutes for giving Ms. Rowe the platform in which her voice could be heard by the nation, by the world.

[oteo697]

60 minutes,
Thank you for finally exposing BP for who they really are. I also work for BP in Wyoming. I know first hand how complaints are ignored. I have been harrassed to the point of a breakdown from one of their team leaders, and yet, my complaints from myself, my entire team have been constantly ignored by the plant manager. I have finally reached a boiling point and have resigned today. Tomorrow i will be searching for an attorney. I have been in the weekly safety meetings that BP prides themselves on, but to no avail. They do not care at all about their employees, only about the good ole buck.Thank you for airing your investigation, and i think more and more people will come forward and expose more of their tarnished "green image".
Thank You

[ronniegraves]

To LHunnings: I also lost my husband, but not in the exposion. He was killed July 21,2006. I can not put into words any better than you did as to how My family has been affected. A phone call,at least 3-5 hours after his accident, telling me he was dead, changed our lives forever. A part of us is gone forever and we are wandering with no direction. Left behind was myself, two sons and a grandson with an emptiness in our hearts that can not be filled. I also watched 60 minutes and was dissapointed that nothing was said about my husbands death on July 21, 2006, which seems to have fallen by the wayside in light of all the publicity of the explosion that killed the 15. My
heart goes out to all of you. I pray for answers
and the recognition my husband deserves because he was dedicated to his work and his family and as many others, lost his life working at BP making a living for his family.

[lukestep1]

I thank CBS for the viewing on BP. Fortunately no one from my oil distribution co. Donlyn Distribution Inc. was physically killed by BP.

However, BP not only made every effort to put Donlyn out of business, but went beyond that to cut off the legs of the company, in anticipation that Donlyn would not be able to get back on its feet. That level of cruelness is not in the room with Physical-death.

Yet it carries a daily pain that only one who has walked in said shoes can understand. Barbara Mitchell. See my web site eknitsuer.com "Featured"

[araybion]

I can't say enough Thank you's to CBS in taking the time to report on a tragedy that has changed my family's lives forever. My father was killed in the explosion that should have never happened. I understand that BP has accepted responsiblity for the "incident" that day, but will it make the hurt go away? NO, the hurt will never go away. I praise Eva Rowe for letting BP know that not only has it changed her life, but it has changed the lives of those who lost someone. Until you have walked in our shoes, don't critisize what Ms. Rowe or any of the families for what we have done. Just because the other families didn't take it as far as Eva did, doesn't mean that we feel any less pain or heartbreak or anger about what happened. Kudos to Eva....you spoke for all the families...Our lives were changed and will never be the same.

[gmond]

Business as usual in corporate America.

[cmjecklin]

Why would a British Corporation, run by LORD BROWN, be concerned with the well being of american citizens? There concern is the american dollar and ties to corrupt,traitorous politicians.

[cmjecklin]

October 30, 2006

60 Minutes


In response to BP Texas refinery explosion.
As a former BP maintenance tech, I know first hand of BPs Maintenance policies or lack thereof. Theirs is a total cutback on preventative maintenance and employees. Policies that include forcing employees to purchase their own equipment, taking monetary loses, working hours an not being compensated for it, and consistently harassing employees until they resign. Theirs is the elimination of all preventative maintenance to increase profits regardless of its possible harmful consequences to the environment and people. It comes as no surprise that BP does not have the employees, willingness or annual maintenance procedures to test their Pipelines.
Is this the breed of companies we want to take over our infrastructures, Gas, Oil, Electric, Water? One would hope our lawmakers can see beyond a fast buck and realize this is an issue of national security. Hopefully, someday they will see the damage foreign corporations are inflicting on our economy, people, nation, and act accordingly.


[e-mail]

[saransk]

For over a decade, large companies have found the US government, and many states, unwilling to enforce current laws, much less envoke tougher laws, protecting the working class. Only a concerted effort by both citizens and workers will change this oversight by neglect.
BP is just one example

[curtis154]

Re: Bp Texas City
I am an employee at Texas City for Bp. Your story did not provide any information that Bp's own investigation, along with OSHA and the Chemical Safety Board reported already. Instead of jumping on the hate oil companies bandwagon, do a follow-up story that shows how Bp Texas City has changed since the explosion. What steps did Bp take to change the culture in a flawed Safety environment. It isn't always the disaster that is the story, sometimes it is the recovery from the disaster.
Curtis Wilson

[claroch]

Remember the August 9 headlines : "BP admits knowledge of corrosion problems in Alaskan pipelines.
Workers had predicted %u2018major catastrophic event%u2019 because of cost-cutting" ...

How many more lives will they take and how much more damage will they inflict on our planet ... before SOMEBODY steps in and stops their recklessness ???

[claroch]

Remember the August 9 headlines : "BP admits knowledge of corrosion problems in Alaskan pipelines.
Workers had predicted %u2018major catastrophic event%u2019 because of cost-cutting" ...

How many more lives will they take and how much more damage will they inflict on our planet ... before SOMEBODY steps in and stops their recklessness ???

[claroch]

Remember the August 9 headlines : "BP admits knowledge of corrosion problems in Alaskan pipelines.
Workers had predicted %u2018major catastrophic event%u2019 because of cost-cutting" ...

How many more lives will they take and how much more damage will they inflict on our planet ... before SOMEBODY steps in and stops their recklessness ???

[cva6472]

As a part of BP in southern calif many of us could see the culture of a unsafe work place at the wilmington calciner, people need to talk with
maintenanc workers also some operations workers.

I know they would like to talk about blinding gaslines,also exposure to asbestoes.

Work Safe stay alive

[inboxo]

I'm sure this is the wrong place to do this, but I hope you will forward to anyone who can help. The segment on BP Texas City interested me because I know other people who work in other dangerous jobs and they too face poor maintenance, known existing hazards, and manipulated records. Alcoa Aluminum, a company making substantial profits (though less than the obscene profits of oil companies), is a case in point. At the Bettendorf, Iowa plant where they pour molten metal, holes in the roof allow rain to enter the building. If it happens to get into the molten aluminum, it can explode. Management knows about this but does nothing to fix the problem. Jobs that required four people have been reduced to two. When workers are injured, the managers first attempt to make it the worker's fault. Failing that, they require the worker to come into the plant and sit in the medical office so they can keep their safety record--the injury never shows up. If and when OSHA shows up, they are carefully sheparded about and hasty pseudo-repairs are made so it looks safe but really is not. I know of other dangerous plants engaged in the same practices. If the worker objects, their job is threatened and if the union objects, they are threatened with moving the operation off shore. What can be done to correct this situation? Workers are not expendable and injuries and deaths are not part of the cost of doing business.

[marison1]

Mr. Bradley,
I watched your story on the BP Texas City explosion last night. I hope that 60 Min. will do a follow up story on how much time and money BP has put into this refinery to make it a safer place to work and safer for the community of Texas City. I currently work at BP Texas City and eventhough there are always risked involved when you work in such enviroments I feel alot safer today then I did alittle over a year ago. I believe BP should be able to show and tell the world that it has gone to great lenghts to protect its workers and the surrounding community.

Thank you for your time.
Marison Rice
BP Contractor

[bluestardad]

January 21, 2001 soon after gas hit two dollars a gallon. The great decider was on the move. America grabbed its ankles cause he was not gentle. Most of us lined up for his game but now we are tired of his lies he has been telling us, and are a little sore, tired, and need a smoke. We do not want to %u201CStay the Course%u201D anymore and are about to dump this chimp.

[nottoligm43]

biggiemj:
I do work in one of the same top three refineries, such as yourself.
Ms. Rowe had her 15 minutes of fame, and we(you and I)and the rest of the taxpayers will pay for the uncalled for dragging through the courts of what BP has already admitted, so, Ms. Rowe can cash in on the "cash cows", you so decribe.
Perhaps I could understand Ms. Rowe's throught process, had the rest of the victims families were involved in this suit, along with her.

[lreadl]

I agree with biggemj. There is a ceiling on caring. Field employees (the blue collar guys) care, but the bean counters still say no to necessary safety measures if it costs too much time or $$$. I also work for one of the big three. These guys need to learn to practice what they preach. Problem is the office guys don't have to work in it every day. They can just make a visit every now and then, point at a couple of insignificant issues that they notice and raise enough stink to keep attention focused away from the real problem, which is management itself. In Texas City, blue collar guys were trying to tell them that problems existed. I read that Alaska was the same story. My guess is that once the complaints got to low level management, that don't work in the field, the issues were covered up and upper management never knew a problem existed.