Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Maine Boom Not Deployed Because it Failed Inspection?

The story of the Boom manufacturer who could not get BP or the government to use his product for weeks may have been for a legitimate reason. There is some contention on if the product passed inspection. If the material used made it all useless, you would still think BP or the government would let them know what they need in order for new product to be produced and used as quickly as it could be made. If the issue was the connector end pieces, that is something that seems as if it could be rectified quickly. What this story means is that there may have been a good reason for some delay, but there still is not a good reason why both sides are not clear on the issue and had it fixed in relatively short order.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/06/why-isnt-that-maine-boom-being-deployed-to-the-gulf.html

"So what was wrong with the PackGen boom?

“There were concerns with material and end connectors,” LaBrec said. “BP has inspectors who visit facilities and regularly test boom. In addition to testing boom from new suppliers, boom from existing manufacturers is also tested/inspected. The Coast Guard also inspects boom that we purchase from suppliers. It is important because poorly designed boom may not work as intended.”

Lapoint said the boom “not only meets” standards, “it exceeds it.”

“The only issue was the end connectors,” Lapoint said. So, he said, “we changed it to the universal connector, so there shouldn’t be any problems at all.”

But he remains frustrated. “I had two engineers go down to the Gulf. I was told it had to be the universal connector. I can’t tell you the miles of boom coming in from overseas that doesn’t have the universal connector.” He called the pushback against his boom “hogwash.”
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