June, Safety, ethics on the horizon, p. 5: As a thoroughly schooled, experienced engineer, I have read the news, watched television and listened to the radio for an engineering explanation of what went on as BP lost control of its oil well. All I have heard is name calling, political comments and threats of punishment. Often I have heard that the scientists failed.
Actually it was management that failed — corporate management AND government management. If a building were to collapse, the first inquiry would be a review of the design drawings and calculations. No science here. It’s all management — first on the part of the city, next on the part of the builders. The main question asked would be: was the design done by a registered, licensed professional engineer? Did he or she stamp and sign the drawings? I have heard no such questions regarding BP and the Deepwater Horizon. If the job had been managed properly, stamped, signed drawings of the design should currently exist. The signatures need to be from licensed engineers: not only BP engineers, but U.S. Corps of Engineers too. I expect that these signatures are either missing, or affixed fraudulently — or even worse, that good design drawings were not even prepared.
This assertion underscores how disasters occur when professional reviews and the signing or stamping procedures are sidestepped, either purposely, or through ignorance. The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) should endeavor to learn what designs, if any, were reviewed by licensed professionals working for BP, or the Corps of Engineers, or the Coast Guard, or any of the Gulf states. The disciplines that should have put stamps on the designs are: structural, mechanical, chemical, electrical and control systems. The designs requiring said reviews (and approvals) are those of the platform (the Deepwater Horizon), the blowout preventer (with close attention to the dynamic seal that enables movement of the drill rod), the well casing, the well discharge pipe, and the well termination (so-called X-mas tree), with special attention paid to the shut-off valve and the valve actuators.
Scott Mansfield, PE Retired, San Gabriel, CA