US regulators are preparing new formal charges against BP, Transocean and Halliburton in connection with April 2010's Deepwater Horizon disaster and will issue those "incidents of non-compliance" within the next few weeks, outgoing Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Director Michael Bromwich said Monday.
The sanctions will result from a closer look at the methods used to drill the Macondo well in April, 2010, Bromwich said.
On October 12, regulators issued a first wave of INCs to BP, Transocean and Halliburton based on specific findings of a joint investigation of the Deepwater Horizon incident. That enforcement action included seven violation charges for BP and four violations each for Transocean and Halliburton.
The INCs represented the first time federal regulators had specifically held contractors responsible for offshore drilling violations. In the past, regulators have always targeted well operators only.
On Monday, Bromwich said the new notices will be for offenses not specifically cited in the joint investigation report.
"We first went back through the JIT report and issued the INCs that seemed to be called for by that report," Bromwich told reporters at his last briefing before stepping down from the agency.
He said that BSEE employees have since "gone back and looked at some of the underlying data and documentation that exist that relates to the actual drilling of the well. My understanding is that the new regulatory violations will be the result of that deeper dive into some of the underlying materials."
Bromwich leaves BSEE on Thursday after 17 months leading the reorganization of the US offshore drilling regulatory agency. He is being replaced by US Coast Guard Rear Admiral James Watson. Bromwich will remain as a special counselor to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar until December 31.
