HOUSTON—All eyes have been focused on the mission to cap the Deepwater Horizon well.
But nearly two years before this disaster, the alarm was being sounded about another BP rig in the Gulf: The Atlantis.
"BP has been anything but forthright," said Zach Corrigan.
Corrigan is an attorney for the D.C. based consumer group, Food and Water Watch.
The organization says a whistleblower, a former contractor on the Atlantis, told them the rig has been operating without hundreds of engineer approved safety documents—and there seems to be proof.
In 2008, a year after Atlantis started production, an internal BP e-mail states: "There are hundreds, if not thousands, of subsea documents that have not been finalized. For Atlantis, this could lead to catastrophic operator error."
In 2009 the whistleblower notified the Minerals Management Service, which regulates the energy business, about those documents.
Corrigan says MMS did nothing for a year.
"It was only after 19 members of Congress sent a letter expressing concern, that MMS finally launched an investigation this spring," Corrigan said.
The consumer group has sued MMS, for failing to fulfill its duty. Now several members of Congress are urging BP to shut down the Atlantis until regulators prove it’s safe.
The Atlantis produces about 200,000 barrels of oil per day.
A Houston professor said shutting it down would be premature.
"Actually, there is a lot less risk when you are under production, rather than drilling," said Dr. Don Van Nieuwenhuise, professor of Geoscience at the University of Houston.
Dr. Nieuwenhuise spent 20 years working for major oil companies. He says a drilling rig like the Horizon is riskier than a production rig like Atlantis, because when you’re drilling, there’s always an open hole.
He also discussed the allegations of unapproved engineering documents on Atlantis.
"I find it hard to believe that someone drew a diagram on a napkin and said, ‘go ahead, build it this way,’ engineers for certain have seen every stop of the process," he said.
A spokesperson with Minerals Management Service released a statement about its Atlantis investigation saying, "In 2009, a whistleblower filed a complaint under the federal false claims act, alleging that BP falsely certified safety records, relating to the Atlantis project. In the meantime, MMS launched its own investigation into safety operations on the Atlantis. That investigation is ongoing."
BP has said all along the Atlantis rig is safe, but a former employee, a consumer group and some lawmakers won’t be satisfied until the government can verify that claim.
