A time-line of the absurd…
August 26th, 2010
Article found on the next to last page of the New York Times… in an alternate time-line.
Venice, LA – May 27, 2011; Mr. David Miller, 49, the former assistant drilling supervisor stationed aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig contracted by oil giant British Petroleum (BP), was sentenced today to 35 years to life for his actions aboard the Deepwater Horizon.
“His actions were reprehensible. The admission of guilt by Mr. Miller was more than enough to seal his fate and solidify our charges of terrorism on board the Deepwater Horizon”, said Mr. Gerald Fanner, attorney for BP Operations.
As Mr. Miller was being led out of the courtroom, members of the crew that had stood by him during his trial shook their heads in disbelief. Directly behind the defendants table Mrs. Miller cried softly all the while being comforted by her two young sons.
Assistant director of BP Drilling Operations, Jason Wilkommer held a press conference outside of the courtroom. “Justice was served today”, he said. “Mr. Miller now knows what it means when you tell your employees not to do anything unless someone higher up is notified of your intended actions. This chain of command was violated by Mr. Miller when he threw the switch that activated the bag to seal the well and started the emergency pumping of heavy drilling mud into the well head. His statements that ‘something was not right with the well’ and that he felt something was seriously wrong with the pressure testing being done on the well at the time in question tells us that Mr. Miller was trying to sabotage the drilling operation and deal BP and Transocean a huge set back.”
Connie Raybar, attorney for Mr. Miller tried to plead her case to anyone who would listen on the courthouse steps. “Mr. Miller had reason to believe that a dangerous situation was about to happen aboard that rig. His interpretation of readings during the pressure test indicated that the well was getting away from the crew on the platform and he initiated the shut-down procedure to preserve life and property. The very fact that BP and Transocean would not acknowledge the removal of alarms, the test results that showed that a problem existed at the well head and those senior members of the rig would not comment on, or did not know about conditions aboard the Deepwater Horizon, is proof enough that something was wrong on that rig.”
According to court documents, Mr. Miller was standing in the “drilling shack” trying to make sense of test readouts being performed during a static pressure test. As he was talking among the crew and voicing his alarm at the rise in pressures on a well head that should have had static pressures, senior executives, including Mr. Wilkommer, entered the shack on a tour. The executives did not seem to be as concerned about the read-outs as Mr. Miller was. In fact, when Mr. Miller started to protest, Mr. Wilkommer expressly told him to forget the readings and complete the test.
Mr. Miller was not happy with the decision and testified that he was so concerned that he decided to monitor the test for another hour. About thirty minutes later, he says he stepped out of the shack and could smell gas pouring up through the well head and past the blow-out preventer. He immediately initiated shut-down procedures by activating “the bag”, a thick membrane that surrounds a key part of the drill mechanism and ordered that heavy drilling mud be pumped back into the well to quell the leaking gas. In his testimony, Mr. Miller was adamant that had he not shut down the well, a catastrophic event could have occurred.
Crew members questioned about the actual situation said that they told Mr. Miller that it was not a good idea to shut the well down as management could come down hard on them for initiating the action. Several members said that Mr. Miller had said “They can kiss my ass. I am not about to lose my life or sacrifice yours because of a stupid rule. I have been doing this kind of work for 12 years. There’s something wrong with this well and I am shutting it down before things get out of control.”
Drilling crews testified that there were indeed issues with the well and the rig and since early March, and up until April 20th, many thought that the well was having some type of issue. The lack of management interaction was a concern, but they couldn’t say or do anything for fear of losing their job.
Most of the senior engineers aboard the rig testified that they had been told repeatedly that only Mr. Wilkommer and the President of BP operations, Mr. Norton Crouther were the only ones who could issue orders to actuate those emergency procedures. These were the same executives who had supposedly told rig engineers to silence the alarms on the rig so that members of the crew could get sleep without having to be woken up for minor issues.
Mr. Miller was taken into custody by security personnel aboard the drilling rig shortly after the incident and was subsequently charged with domestic terrorism, a charge which could have included the death penalty.
In the defenses closing statement, Mrs. Raybar said, “Mr. Miller acted according to what he felt was a dangerous situation. Tests are done on wells to show engineers if a problem exists. A problem did exist. Had Mr. Miller not shut down the well, there could have been an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon which could have resulted in the loss of life, a loss of the rig itself or the spillage of thousands, perhaps millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
BP’s legal team showed that Mr. Miller’s contention that management and practices aboard the rig were responsible for a dangerous situation were unfounded. In fact, BP executives said that the Deepwater Horizon is as safe today as it was eight years ago when she was commissioned. Mr. Miller’s attempt to point the finger at BP or Transocean for flagrant safety violations was his way of trying to deflect what his true intentions were, which was the resultant damage he did to the rig.
The Deepwater Horizon stayed on station for an additional three weeks replacing the well head that is 5,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. According to sources on board the Deepwater Horizon, there was no chance of leaking oil or gas due to the amount of mud that had been pumped into the well head casing by Mr. Miller’s actions. The engineers for BP say that the well can be reopened and tapped for the future and no real significant damage to the well was done. The Deepwater Horizon has since moved onto another site in the Gulf of Mexico.
The above article is reprinted by permission of those guys in that alternate time-line. It just as easily could be real. But on our April 20th, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon Drilling rig exploded in a big ball of flame and smoke. One hundred and fifteen crew members were rescued, including 16 who were seriously injured. Eleven people died and an untold amount of raw crude oil flooded the Gulf of Mexico.
The point is this… Had things happened like they did in the above article, would Mr. Miller have been a hero? Or a terrorist?
In todays time-line, Mr. Miller died leaving a wife and four children.
The names in this article were changed to protect the innocent… in this… and that… time-line.
