BP Well Manager on Leave Pending Investigations

According to a June 24 report from Bloomberg, the BP Plc manager who oversaw the well that erupted in April has been placed on leave while at least four federal agencies probe the disaster. The report said that Donald Vidrine, the well site leader aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded and sank, said in an interview yesterday that he has been on administrative leave since the incident. Vidrine was the top-ranking BP decision-maker on duty aboard the rig when it was rocked by a surge of gas from beneath the sea floor, Chief Executive Officer Tony Hayward told a House panel last week. Just hours before the disaster, Vidrine overruled objections from representatives of rig owner Transocean Ltd. about how to finish the well, Douglas Brown, the chief mechanic on the vessel, told U.S. Coast Guard and Interior Department investigators in May.

(Source: Bloomberg)