Was Oil Rig Leaking Before Blast?

BP’s negligence keeps getting worse: A worker from the Deepwater Horizion oil rig says he identified a leak in the oil rig weeks before the April 20 explosion—and that, rather than repair it, BP simply shut the equipment down and relied on backup devices. Tyrone Benton says the leak was located in crucial safety equipment—the blowout preventer that is supposed to seal off the well in case of an explosion. "We saw a leak on the pod, so by seeing the leak we informed the company men," Benton said. "They have a control room where they could turn off that pod and turn on the other one, so that they don't have to stop production." A petroleum expert from the University of Texas says, "That is unacceptable. If you see any evidence of the blowout preventer not functioning properly, you should fix it by whatever means possible."