According to two surviving crew members of the Deepwater Horizon, oil workers from the rig were held in seclusion on the open water for up to two days after the April 20 explosion, while[Transocean] attorneys attempted to convince them to sign legal documents stating that they were unharmed by the incident. The men claim that they were forbidden from having any contact with concerned loved ones during that time, and were told they would not be able to go home until they signed the documents they were presented with.[...]
After being awake for 50 harrowing hours, [Stephen] Davis caved and signed the papers. He said most of the others did as well.
[...]
Christopher Choy, a roustabout on the rig, said that the lawyers gathered the survivors in the galley of a boat and said, "'You need to sign these. Nobody's getting off here until we get one from everybody.' ... At the bottom, it said something about, like, you know, this can be used as evidence in court and all that. I told them, 'I'm not signing it.' "
Choy said that once he was finally allowed to get off the boat, he was shuttled to a hotel, where he met up with his wife. At the hotel, representatives from Transocean confronted him again and badgered him to sign the statement. Exhausted, traumatized and desperate to go home, Choy said that he finally relented and signed.
Other industrialized nations that have off-shore oil (like Canada and Norway) require certain safety measures to be in place for drilling to prevent situations like what happened in the BP disaster. Examples of these protective measures are mandatory relief wells and "acoustic switches" that shut down operations completely (and remotely) in case of a blowout or explosion.The US Mines and Minerals Service, under the industry-friendly Bush administration, decided that rigs operating in American waters don't need these measures because they are "very costly". Acoustic switches cost $500,000 per switch. Now we see what a small price that is with the economy of Louisiana in jeopardy. Keep in mind that $500,000 cost was deemed too intrusive on the profits of the most profitable companies in the history of civilization.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
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