Former Bp Engineer Arrested In Deepwater Horizon Disaster Case

[News_Editor]

Former BP engineer arrested in Deepwater Horizon disaster case 2012-04-26 06:26:14 GMT+7 (ICT) WASHINGTON (BNO NEWS) -- Kurt Mix, a former engineer for British multinational oil and gas company BP plc, was arrested in the United States on Tuesday on charges of intentionally destroying evidence linked to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, U.S. prosecutors said.Mix, 50, of Katy, Texas, has been charged with two counts of obstruction of justice in a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Mix allegedly deleted records relating to the amount of oil flowing from the Macondo well after the explosion that led to the devastating tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010."The Deepwater Horizon Task Force is continuing its investigation into the explosion and will hold accountable those who violated the law in connection with the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history," Holder stated.According to court documents, Mix, a drilling and completions project engineer for BP, worked on internal BP efforts to estimate the amount of oil leaking from the well and was involved in various efforts to stop the leak following the blowout, including Top Kill, the failed BP effort to pump heavy mud into the blown out wellhead to try to stop the oil flow. BP sent numerous notices to Mix requiring him to retain all information concerning Macondo, including his text messages, but according to the DOJ, he allegedly deleted a text string containing more than 200 text messages with a BP supervisor. "The deleted texts, some of which were recovered forensically, included sensitive internal BP information collected in real-time as the Top Kill operation was occurring, which indicated that Top Kill was failing," prosecutors said.In addition, among other allegations in court documents, Mix also deleted a text message he had sent on the evening of May 26, 2010 - at the end of the first day of Top Kill - in which he stated that there was an excessive flowrate of over 15,000 barrels per day. Furthermore, Mix and other engineers had concluded internally that Top Kill was unlikely to succeed if the flow rate was greater than 15,000 barrels of oil per day.  However, prosecutors said that at the time, BP's public estimate of the flow rate was 5,000 barrels per day.Another string of more than 100 text messages was also deleted. The messages involved Mix and a BP contractor with whom he had worked on various issues concerning how much oil was flowing from the Macondo well after the blowout. The messages were deleted despite having received numerous legal hold notices requiring him to preserve such data and had been communicating with a criminal defense lawyer in connection with the investigation.If convicted, Mix faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 as to each count.‪On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon rig experienced an uncontrolled blowout and related explosions while finishing the Macondo well. The catastrophe killed 11 men on board and resulted in the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. 

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-04-26