Chemical Safety Board Investigating Causes of BP’s Oil Rig Explosion

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board will investigate the cause of the explosion that destroyed BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig killing 11 workers and injuring 15 others, the agency told the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a June 21 letter.

The committee requested that the Chemical Safety Board examine whether the circumstances and events leading up to the Deepwater Horizon explosion reflect problems in BP’s corporate safety culture and if parallels exist between the explosion and the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion that killed 15 workers.

The board’s investigation of the 2005 explosion led to the formation ...