By Kristen Hays
HOUSTON, June 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is launching an investigation into the root causes of the BP Plc oil spill disaster that killed 11 workers and threatens much of the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The investigation joins a slew of others, including those by President Barack Obama's special commission, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Department of Justice and congressional committees.
CSB Chairman John Bresland said in a letter to U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders that the case will be handled by investigators who examined BP's refinery safety practices in a two-year probe of a deadly 2005 explosion at the company's Texas City, Texas, refinery.
Bresland said the agency will examine what led to the April 20 explosion on Transocean Ltd's Deepwater Horizon rig, which had drilled an exploratory well according to BP's design.
The CSB is an independent agency with no enforcement power, modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board. Both can recommend safety fixes and issue detailed, sometimes harsh analyses of why a disaster happened.
At the conclusion of its Texas City investigation, the CSB issued a scathing, lengthy report about BP's lax safety practices and a culture of slashing costs and cutting corners.
BP has consistently acknowledged cost cutting at the refinery but denied a link between such cuts and the explosion.
PAST PROBE
The CSB's experience with BP prompted Democrat Henry Waxman, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Democrat Bart Stupak, chairman of its investigative subcommittee, to ask the agency to investigate the disaster.
'We believe the CSB's past work on BP puts it in a unique position to address questions about BP's safety culture and practices,' Waxman and Stupak said in a June 8 letter to Bresland.
BP spokesman Robert Wine said the company would cooperate fully 'with all government agencies in these investigations.'
Bresland told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the Deepwater Horizon case will be the CSB's first that happened offshore.
He said the probe would examine BP's actions from the earliest stages of planning to drill the well to the seconds before the blowout preventer failed.
He said the CSB also would examine the oversight of regulators, including the U.S. Minerals Management Service, as well as trade organization standards to determine if they are sufficient.
'We're not starting with any preconceived notions on this,' Bresland told Reuters. 'We need to start from scratch and look at all aspects of it.'
The agency will tap into its $847,000 emergency investigative fund and ask for more money to cover its costs, Bresland said.
The agency's Texas City investigation, the longest probe in its history, cost about $2.5 million, he said.
The NTSB investigates transportation disasters like plane crashes and train derailments, and the CSB investigates industrial chemical accidents and releases. The chemical release in the Deepwater Horizon case is the natural gas release from the well that sparked the deadly explosion and fire.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Keywords: OIL SPILL/PROBE (kristen.hays@thomsonreuters.com; +1 713-210-8538; Reuters Messaging: kristen.hays.reuters.com@reuters.) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
HOUSTON, June 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is launching an investigation into the root causes of the BP Plc oil spill disaster that killed 11 workers and threatens much of the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The investigation joins a slew of others, including those by President Barack Obama's special commission, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Department of Justice and congressional committees.
CSB Chairman John Bresland said in a letter to U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders that the case will be handled by investigators who examined BP's refinery safety practices in a two-year probe of a deadly 2005 explosion at the company's Texas City, Texas, refinery.
Bresland said the agency will examine what led to the April 20 explosion on Transocean Ltd's Deepwater Horizon rig, which had drilled an exploratory well according to BP's design.
The CSB is an independent agency with no enforcement power, modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board. Both can recommend safety fixes and issue detailed, sometimes harsh analyses of why a disaster happened.
At the conclusion of its Texas City investigation, the CSB issued a scathing, lengthy report about BP's lax safety practices and a culture of slashing costs and cutting corners.
BP has consistently acknowledged cost cutting at the refinery but denied a link between such cuts and the explosion.
PAST PROBE
The CSB's experience with BP prompted Democrat Henry Waxman, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Democrat Bart Stupak, chairman of its investigative subcommittee, to ask the agency to investigate the disaster.
'We believe the CSB's past work on BP puts it in a unique position to address questions about BP's safety culture and practices,' Waxman and Stupak said in a June 8 letter to Bresland.
BP spokesman Robert Wine said the company would cooperate fully 'with all government agencies in these investigations.'
Bresland told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the Deepwater Horizon case will be the CSB's first that happened offshore.
He said the probe would examine BP's actions from the earliest stages of planning to drill the well to the seconds before the blowout preventer failed.
He said the CSB also would examine the oversight of regulators, including the U.S. Minerals Management Service, as well as trade organization standards to determine if they are sufficient.
'We're not starting with any preconceived notions on this,' Bresland told Reuters. 'We need to start from scratch and look at all aspects of it.'
The agency will tap into its $847,000 emergency investigative fund and ask for more money to cover its costs, Bresland said.
The agency's Texas City investigation, the longest probe in its history, cost about $2.5 million, he said.
The NTSB investigates transportation disasters like plane crashes and train derailments, and the CSB investigates industrial chemical accidents and releases. The chemical release in the Deepwater Horizon case is the natural gas release from the well that sparked the deadly explosion and fire.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Keywords: OIL SPILL/PROBE (kristen.hays@thomsonreuters.com; +1 713-210-8538; Reuters Messaging: kristen.hays.reuters.com@reuters.) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.