KEY POINTS:
NEW YORK - BP executives were aware of problems with equipment well before an explosion at the company's Texas City refinery in March 2005 killed 15 workers and injured 180 others, US federal investigators said yesterday.
"The CSB's investigation shows that BP's global management was aware of problems with maintenance, spending, and infrastructure well before March 2005," said Carolyn Merritt, chairman of the Chemical Safety Board, in a press release.
"Unsafe and antiquated equipment designs were left in place, and unacceptable deficiencies in preventive maintenance were tolerated," she said.
The explosion at the Texas City refinery was the worst workplace accident in the United States in more than a decade.
The CSB's final report on the blast will probably not be issued before March 2007, the CSB said.
BP's image has been further undermined since the blast as corrosion problems at its Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska caused the worst-ever oil leak on the North Slope last winter. BP is also under investigation for alleged manipulation of some energy markets.
- REUTERS
