NRC: Gulf Spill Resulted From 'Insufficient Consideration of Risk'

In an interim report on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released this morning, a committee of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council finds that “numerous decisions to proceed toward abandonment [of the well] despite indications of hazard … suggest an insufficient consideration of risk and a lack of operating discipline.” The committee also questioned “the adequacy of operating knowledge on the part of key personnel.”

A press conference on the report, which was released early after an embargo break, will be held at 1 p.m. EDT. The full report is not expected until June.

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