Rep. Waxman: conflicting accounts from BP on test on well before explosion

Rep. Waxman: conflicting accounts from BP on test

WASHINGTON — Rep. Henry Waxman says BP officials provided conflicting accounts of what happened after an oil well didn’t pass a negative pressure test hours before its rig exploded.

Waxman, D-Calif., said at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday that a BP senior executive told the committee that the well didn’t pass the test around 5 p.m. on the day of the explosion. Waxman said results of a second test were unsatisfactory.

He said that the executive told congressional investigators the well blew moments after the second pressure test.

But Waxman said that on Tuesday, a company lawyer told the committee that more pressure tests were done that justified continuing with well operations. Waxman said that rig exploded just two hours after well operations resumed.