Tomorrow investigators for the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) will publish their long awaited report in the cause of fatal explosion at BP’s Texas refinery in March 2005.
However it has now emerged that BP board directors were aware of the link between spending cuts and poor maintenance at its Texas City refinery two-and-a-half years before the fatal explosion at the site in March 2005
An internal presentation made to John Manzoni, chief executive for refining and marketing, in November 2003 linked the ‘history of reduced investment’ at the Texas City refinery with ‘poor maintenance practices’. It also made clear that the refinery’s performance on safety, integrity and maintenance, was weak.