BP Oil Spill Screams Criminal Negligence

More than a month after a BP oil rig exploded, BP engineers along with government experts are still searching for a way to stop thousands of gallons of oil from continuing to gush into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

BP's efforts to stem the flow of oil in the gulf so far have been unsuccessful and appear to be woefully short of getting the problem under control.

The American people have grown weary of BP's inability to find a workable solution to stop` the oil leak and understandably so.

Every day that the gulf is flooded with oil means another day that residents have to wait to resume their normal lives.

The shocker is, this all could have been avoided.

It was revealed by a former Alaskan oil engineer on CNN, that BP routinely shortcut or completely avoided performing safety tests of the blowout valve responsible for shutting off the oil flow in the event of an oil leak like the one now occurring in the Gulf of Mexico.

The whistle blower said that BP regularly, shortened the time period that the valve was tested under pressure and at other times did not perform any pressure tests.

If these revelations prove to be true, the actions of BP have every indication of being criminal.

Not testing the blowout valve put workers on the oil rig at risk. This blatant disregard for the safety of those working on the rig ultimately led to the deaths of 11 BP employees at the site

There are many questions that BP needs to answer. Why did the blowout valve fail? Why weren't there backup procedures in place in the event of a failure. Any industry using any type of equipment that has the possibility of causing such a horrific disaster, should surely know that they should have a backup plan in case of an equipment failure.

Most safety mechanisms have what are called "redundant" safety features which means they have backup systems to their backup systems.

Why didn't BP?

For BP, it is not out of the question for them to be facing manslaughter charges concerning the 11 workers who were killed when the oil spill is finally contained.

BP willfully and knowingly with wanton disregard for safety , violated safety regulations and falsified documents to cover up those violations.

At best and worst, their actions in this matter are criminal and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

In short, executive heads should roll.