May 20, 2013
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A retired BP employee who supervised drilling operations on the rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico says he never felt pressure to sacrifice safety to save money, even though the project was behind schedule and over budget.
Former BP PLC well site leader Ronnie Sepulvado testified Wednesday at a federal trial designed to assign fault for the deadly disaster to the companies involved in drilling BP's Macondo well.
Sepulvado left the Deepwater Horizon rig four days before the April 2010 well blowout. His replacement, Robert Kaluza, and fellow BP well site leader Donald Vidrine are charged with manslaughter in the deaths of 11 rig workers and await a separate trial.
Sepulvado says he doesn't believe in "pushing people to keep schedules" and never asked rig workers to cut corners.
