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Bill Campbell Shell

The Case against Malcolm Brinded CBE

Email Dated 4 March 2015 from Mr Bill Campbell, Retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International, to Mr Billy Gordon, a senior officer of Police Scotland

The Case against Malcolm Brinded CBE: 

Dear Mr Gordon

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your continual support especially over the period when the Fiscal Anne Currie was carrying out her investigation into the conduct of Shell and HSE officials (2009 – 2011), Appendix C of the attached refers. If you check your files you will bring to mind that early in 2012, I sent a joint communication copied to you and the Royal Dutch Chairman (RDS) Jorma Ollila and his Legal Counsel Michiel Brandjes. We discussed in some detail the contents of a conversation that took place shortly after Shell had issued a press release (Appendix A) with a complete denial of the claims made both on BBC Scotland TV and the oil and gas industry trade Magazine Upstream. As a result of this communication, and by April 2012 ,Malcolm Brinded was released from the employ of RDS, his release initiated by his employer. For the record, as you are aware I was not allowed to come to Aberdeen to make a statement or to convey the many pages of evidence in what is a complex business. Acting to the instruction of the Fiscal Anne Currie the evidence was passed by Grampian police to her. read more

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Royal Dutch Shell Prelude Project ‘A Step Too Far’

Screen Shot 2014-09-25 at 17.11.37By John Donovan

I have received a comment about the most recent Bill Campbell Prelude article from another expert, a former Shell executive. 

I refer to Hans Bouman, the retired Groningen Gas Field Asset Manager for NAM, a joint Royal Dutch Shell/ExxonMobil operation.

Mr Bouman is the expert who in 2002 warned Shell/Sakhalin Energy internally of his concerns over the Sakhalin2 project, including an unforgiving schedule, a theme he returned to a number of times. 

Extract from a May 2002 internal email from Hans Bouman to Engel van Spronsen, Technical Director, Sakhalin Energy: read more

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Chris Finlayson saw himself as the victim of a brutal Shell regime

In summary, and there was evidence in 1999 to support this to a degree, Finlayson saw himself as a victim of a brutal regime run out of Seafield House where the TFA mode was born and his MD Malcolm Brinded who was frantically doing everything in his power to suppress all this because he was seen by the Audit to be the principal architect of the demise in standards throughout the oilfield.  Finlayson in my book was weak, and ineffective, promoted in my opinion into a position he wasn’t competent or willing to handle.

EMAIL SENT 21 OCT 2013 TO A THIRD PARTY BY BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL

Subject: Chris Finlayson

My dealings with Chris were a long time ago during an Audit in 1999.  This Audit uncovered remarkably bad behaviour in the then Shell Expro organisation stemming from the business drivers and messages coming from the top of the organisation.

I spent some hours in the presence of Aberdeen auditors trying to get Finlayson to retract his statements made to journalists and the BBC North reporter Colin Wight that the Touch F All concerns raised by workforce representatives were unwarranted whilst in fact the situation was worse, much worse than anyone outside the organisation could have envisaged.  Last December on his appointment as the BG Chief the Independent newspaper (Mark Leftly) run a article on Finlayson titled if I can remember BG Chief breached safety rules when he was at Shell.  Subsequently I wrote a couple of articles putting the meat on the bones of this which John Donovan published.  BG given the right to reply made no comment and to date have not requested the evidence to support although this was offered to them.
 
In summary, and there was evidence in 1999 to support this to a degree, Finlayson saw himself as a victim of a brutal regime run out of Seafield House where the TFA mode was born and his MD Malcolm Brinded who was frantically doing everything in his power to suppress all this because he was seen by the Audit to be the principal architect of the demise in standards throughout the oilfield.  Finlayson in my book was weak, and ineffective, promoted in my opinion into a position he wasn’t competent or willing to handle. read more

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Arctic Meltdown – Veiled Threat of Legal Action by Shell

Screen Shot 2013-01-11 at 20.09.51By John Donovan

A senior Royal Dutch Shell lawyer has this morning issued a veiled threat of legal action against Bill Campbell, the retired HSE Group Auditor of Shell International.

Michiel Brandjes, the Company Secretary & General Counsel Corporate states in an email received minutes ago that Shell reserves its position in relation to articles drafted by Mr Campbell, but not yet published by us, headed “Misadventures in the Arctic Region in Alaskan waters” and “Shell accepts failures of its internal management controls contributed to its Alaskan misadventures”. Mr. Brandjes has made it clear in a blanket condemnation, that Shell does not accept the accuracy of any points made by Mr. Campbell. read more

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BG Group corporate incubator for Shell strays?

“Nowhere in the flattering and in my judgement misleading CV for Finlayson is there any mention of the words safety, health or environment. It eulogises Finlayson for his optimising of production and operating performance, well that is what TFA was all about.”: “Anyway for fair reason or foul, Finlayson arrives, Carne leaves, Finlayson reaches the Board, Berget maybe gets his marching orders. Maybe all pals together they were keeping BG seats warm for the next Shell bum or maybe there was more to it as suggested, anyway it shows BG Advance as an entity acting as a corporate incubator for Shell strays?”

By Bill Campbell, retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International

Post Piper Alpha it was readily apparent to Lord Cullen that the legislation pertaining to offshore oil and gas extraction was weak with regards to pinning down responsibility and accountability. At that time the statutory instrument SI 1019 made the Offshore Installation Manager (OIM) specifically responsible for what happened offshore re health and safety.

SI 1019 essentially made the OIM Captain of the ship and Occidental Directors appeared on paper at least to be twice removed from how these issues were handled offshore on their installations. read more

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BG Group CEO Chris Finlayson and the Shell ‘Touch Fuck All’ Scandal

“Hyman et al should be reminded that Shell pled guilty on behalf of its Directors to all charges placed before them. So whatever gloss you paint over the turd, Finlayson and Brinded failed as Directors in their principal duty to comply with the Law so that risks to those persons exposed to these risks offshore were minimised, as was their legal responsibility.”

STATEMENT ISSUED ON 19 DECEMBER 2012 BY MR BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL: APPOINTMENT OF CHRIS FINLAYSON AS CEO OF BG GROUP

It appears that not just individuals but organisations have selective memory.  LK Hyman, BG Group, and others should bear in mind the facts that criminal neglect of maintenance over a prolonged period 1999 to 2003 caused the deaths of two men in Sept 2003 after the release of over 6000 m3 of gas into an enclosed space – that is what the Inquiry found and he needs to be reminded that Chris Finlayson and Malcolm Brinded were responsible in Law for the well being of 1000’s of employees over that prolonged period. As stated in writing by the then Lord Advocate in a parliamentary reply the haphazard management of safety over a prolonged period contributed directly to the deaths and the Director of these offshore activities during this period was Finlayson. He had been forewarned in 1999 that a serious accident event was inevitable if actions were not taken and he failed, failed totally, to heed these warnings. We got lucky in a sense that the gas did not ignite which as a consequence could have led to a Piper or Deepwater type of catastrophe.  Hyman et al should be reminded that Shell pled guilty on behalf of its Directors to all charges placed before them. So whatever gloss you paint over the turd, Finlayson and Brinded failed as Directors in their principal duty to comply with the Law so that risks to those persons exposed to these risks offshore were minimised, as was their legal responsibility. read more

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BG’s new boss ‘breached safety rules at Shell in the North Sea’

“TOUCH F*** ALL” STORY BELOW PUBLISHED IN UK AND AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS WAS SOURCED FROM THIS WEBSITE: RoyalDutchShellPlc.com

SHELL HAS RESPONDED WITH WHOPPING GREAT LIES AND ACCORDINGLY WILL TAKE NO LEGAL ACTION BECAUSE IT DID OPERATE A TOUCH F*** ALL POLICY ON NORTH SEA PLATFORMS AND SAFETY RECORDS WERE ROUTINELY FALSIFIED. EVEN THE LIFEBOATS ON SHELL PLATFORMS WERE UNSEAWORTHY. THERE IS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE ABOUT SHELL’S NOTORIOUS TOUCH F*** ALL POLICY. IF CHRIS FINLAYSON, THE NEW CEO OF BG GROUP, DENIES THE ALLEGATIONS, THEN HE SHOULD SUE SHELL WHISTLEBLOWER BILL CAMPBELL, THE RELEVANT NEWSPAPERS, AND ME. IF NO LEGAL ACTION IS TAKEN THEN THE PUBLIC AND BG GROUP EMPLOYEES WILL BE ABLE TO DRAW THE RIGHT CONCLUSION. THEIR NEW BOSS, LIKE SHELL, PUT PROFITS BEFORE THE LIVES OF MERE EMPLOYEES. 

ARTICLE PUBLISHED YESTERDAY BY JOHN DONOVAN: Finlayson is no Chapman!

Mark Leftly: Thursday 13 December 2012

Oil & gas giant BG Group has asked a former Shell executive who was once accused of dangerous health and safety breaches in the North Sea to be its new boss.

Chris Finlayson, who is a BG board member and joined from Shell in 2010, was one of the men who were accused by an insider of having been involved in a Touch F*** All policy when he was a director for the company’s UK division in the late 1990s. read more

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From our achives: Shell on back foot as ‘gripe site’ alleges safety concerns

DAILY MAIL ARTICLE 1 SEPTEMBER 2007


By Sam Fleming

‘As it stands we’re on the back foot and our aim should be to develop a strategy (or options) that puts us in a more positive and secure position.’

‘Do we fully understand our own position. Are there on-going issues that we need to know about/fix. Ensure we are on solid ground. Are we making the most of what we’ve got’

The Shell emails admitting the firm’s concern at the claims

ROYAL Dutch Shell is getting rattled by a ‘gripe site’ that alleges there are safety problems with its North Sea oil platforms. read more

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Update on Shell controversies involving the Police

By John Donovan

Irish police investigation into alleged death threats against Shell whistleblowers on the Corrib Gas Project

In October 2010 I notified the Chief Police Commissioner of the Garda about alleged death threats made against Shell Corrib employees. Insiders had supplied us with a series of Shell internal emails containing sensitive confidential information about the Corrib Gas Project. Shell senior management had advance notice of the information I supplied to the Irish police and did not deny that the emails were authentic.

Except for an acknowledgement letter I received from a Chief Superintendent, I heard nothing further until I received a letter from Superintendent Patrick Diskin in April 2011. As a result of his letter, we supplied more information to the Garda. read more

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EU move over offshore safety

It is now accepted by the establishment that following the Brent Bravo fatalities installations like Gannet were found to have similar problems but continued to operate with dangerous risk levels.  This information was not given to the public prosecutors by the HSE who were desperately trying to cover up their own criminal neglect.

EU move over offshore safety

By Ryan Crighton and Ross Davidson: Published: 28/10/2011

The European Union announced plans last night to seize regulatory control of the oil and gas industry – and it wants operators to put up more than £100million a year to pay for it.

Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said the likelihood of a major offshore accident remained “unacceptably high” after BP’s Gulf of Mexico disaster last year – and a new safety regime was needed.

Under draft plans revealed in Brussels yesterday, the EU would set the rules governing safety in the North Sea and how those rules were met. read more

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Scandal tainted Executive Director Malcolm Brinded ejected from Shell?

By John Donovan: Wednesday 22 February 2012

Seems we should change the poster to “NOT WANTED”

Royal Dutch Shell has today announced the surprise departure of Executive Director Malcolm Brinded.

The announcement does not say that he has retired from the company, but instead that he has “agreed to step down.” In other words, he was asked to leave.

Mr Brinded has attracted negative publicity for his association with past scandals, including the oil reserves fraud.

His role in the Brent Bravo “avoidable accident” resulted in the deaths of Shell employees, a record breaking fine being imposed on Shell, a police investigation and a long campaign for offshore worker safety by retired Shell International HSE Group Auditor, Bill Campbell. read more

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Scottish Police focus on Bill Campbell challenge to Scottish Prosecutor

By John Donovan

Interesting to see that the article “Retired Shell HSE Group Auditor challenges Scottish Prosecutor” is currently featured on the Scottish Police website…

http://www.scottishpolice.info/category/grampian/

Retired Shell HSE Group Auditor challenges Scottish Prosecutor – Royal Dutch Shell plc .com

RELATED SHELL BLOG POSTING TODAY BY “an observer of Shell”:

I have no proof nor will I ever find that proof, but this reprehensible conduct of the legal authorities smells to high heaven of masonic lodges. It is commonly known that a great many employees of Shell Expro are freemasons. The police forces all over the world are well presented in the various lodges. I would not be surprised if Brinded himself is a member. Bill Campbell is a very courageous man taking on these evil forces. We in Shell all knew him to be a completely honest and competent Maintenance manager and HSE auditor. But he loses against all the parasites and sycophants whose sole job is to protect the directors. And then live well on the spoils of their abhorrent activities. Top marks for the Donovans who keep this festering sore in the spotlight. To some it maybe a lot of repeating old stories, but those that want to hide and bury their bad actions know that time is on their side. And Shell has deep pockets and knows how to procrastinate. read more

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Shell Gulf of Mexico Spill: Oops these sort of things only happen to BP!

John

Oops these sort of things only happen to BP!

Our dear friend Mr Voser will no doubt be miffed that in the Gulf even a well designed to his`Utopian‘ Shell standards can dare to leak.  The report today on your website states that Shell wasn’t involved in the Deepwater Horizon spill last year in the Gulf of Mexico.

But the Deepwater Nautilus rig it is currently using has the exact same design and is considered a “sister” rig of the Deepwater Horizon.

This so called sister rig that Shell is using will by implication have the same design flaws as the Deepwater Horizon. Nothing has been done by the Industry as far as I am aware to remedy this situation. read more

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SCOTTISH OIL RIGS IN DIRE STRAITS

Mr Campbell insisted it is only a matter of time before there is another major tragedy in the North Sea. He said: “According to public domain data there were 85 gas releases and 443 dangerous occurrences last year. If you are getting 85 gas leaks that’s one and a half, or two, leaks a week. The probability of an undesirable event is very high.”


CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

By John Donovan

The Sunday Express has today published an article under the headline: “Rusting rigs spark fears of oil tragedy” (above newspaper article) and “SCOTTISH OIL RIGS IN DIRE STRAITS” (online version).

The newspaper approached us for assistance and we were happy to supply extensive information, including the revealing letter we obtained from the Health & Safety Executive that is mentioned in the article.

We also put the Sunday Express journalist Paula Murray into contact with Bill Campbell, the retired HSE Group Auditor of Shell International to led the safety audit team on Shell North Sea platforms in 1999 which exposed a “Touch F*** All” maintenance culture with bodged repairs and falsified safety records. A more recent report (in 2008) by upstreamonline revealed that even the oil rig lifeboats were not seaworthy.
read more

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Another North Sea disaster

So let’s deregulate and make a dash for abandonment at minimum cost and hope we get lucky seems to be the game.  And also let’s put the Chairman of the North Sea’s worst offending Company in charge of the process. Hopefully sense will prevail before the next almost inevitable major accident event when one of the 85 gas leaks per year coincides with a source of ignition.

COMMENT SENT BY BILL CAMPBELL TO ROWENA MASON ON HER RECENT TELEGRAPH ARTICLE: Former Shell chairman James Smith to lead deregulation of UK oil and gas industry

Rowena – interesting article

With some 50 serious injuries a year (up by 20) and over 400 reported dangerous occurrences 85 of which were losses of containment of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere (1) it seems an inappropriate time to reduce regulation. Apart from the recent oil spill on Gannet where Shell accept a causal factor may have been lack of maintenance and inspection, with the HSE stating publicly that lack of maintenance offshore could have severe consequences generally across the oilfield, it seems that better and more proactive oversight of this industry is needed rather than less. read more

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Former Shell chairman James Smith to lead deregulation of UK oil and gas industry

WHAT WILL BILL CAMPBELL MAKE OF THIS? PUTTING A FOX IN CHARGE OF THE HEN HOUSE?

The Government has appointed James Smith, the former UK chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, to lead a radical deregulation of the oil and gas industry.

By 6:00AM BST 07 Sep 2011

Charles Hendry, the energy minister, promised oil executives at Aberdeen’s annual Offshore Europe conference that they would be facing less regulatory oversight in years to come.

Mr Smith, the longtime head of Shell UK, who retired this year, will start gathering opinions in November from companies on how to cut regulation.

“You are not going to see more regulation,” Mr Hendry told delegates. “What we badly need is input from industry on how to reduce the burden of regulation. The approach of ticking boxes you see in other countries, that’s not the UK’s way of doing things.” read more

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Warning North Sea oil platforms could be near collapse

STV News has been shown footage many platforms are severely corroded and have exceeded their intended lifespan by up to 20 years.

“All we’re waiting for is a fat hot spark to coincide with the next loss of containment and we’re away into a multi-fatality event, serious damage to the assets and probably huge environmental losses.”


05 September 2011 15:50 BST

Link to stv news report featuring comments by Bill Campbell: http://bcove.me/0u7ostns

Warning North Sea oil platforms could be near collapse

STV News has been shown footage many platforms are severely corroded and have exceeded their intended lifespan by up to 20 years.

05 September 2011 15:50 BST

STV News has been given footage which shows how close some North Sea platforms are to collapse.

It comes amid growing concerns raised by the Health and Safety executive that many companies are not maintaining the installations – most of which are now working decades beyond their intended lifespan. read more

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Investigation arising from Shell Brent Bravo Explosion

By John Donovan

Criminal Investigation arising from Shell Brent Bravo Explosion

On 17 March 2011, I sent an email to Mrs Anne Currie (right), the Area Procurator Fiscal for Grampion in Scotland.

Its purpose was to find out why the accused company Shell, not the Procurator Fiscal, notified former Shell International Group HSE Auditor, Mr Bill Campbell, of the outcome of the investigation.

This seemed odd to say the least, bearing in mind that it was his complaint to Grampion Police, which sparked the corruption investigation allegedly involving Shell and HSE officials. read more

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Letter to Lord Browne from Shell Brent Bravo whistleblower Bill Campbell

“It is my intention, when I update Trade Union officials et al, to inform them that I made you aware of this matter and I would expect Geoffrey, if he has any of that difficult to obtain substance in our modern world, called honour, to apologise for the fact that your were duped and misled.”

Bill Campbell referring to Geoffrey Podger (right), Chief Executive of the Health & Safety Executive

This correspondence is directed to Lord Browne of Ladyton and concerns issues raised by him on my behalf in a Letter to Lord McKenzie at that time an Under Secretary of State at the DWP on 23 August 2007.  At the time Des Browne was the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Dear Mr Browne

At the time Lord McKenzie answered your letter, with the standard reply to some 15 other MP’s who had raised concerns directly with him.  This was as a result of a open letter that I had copied to all MP’s in 2007.  I have highlighted in the attachment (in bold) how these concerns were handled both by HSE and DWP but suffice to say you were given unambiguous assurances that the concerns raised by me were unfounded.

The position taken by Geoffrey Podger is described in the attachment, he was apparently not involved in the process and did not authorise the HSE information passed to DWP which was then used to give you assurance. The HSE information was also not authorised or indeed discussed by the then Head of the Offshore Division in Aberdeen, he confirmed this to me in writing.  The HSE information passed to DWP was written by an HSE official within the Offshore Division whose actions (amongst others) were the subject of the criminal investigation.  The issue is that the information passed to you was false and misleading, or lies if you like the dictionary definition. read more

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Operating Blind in Deepwater

An analysis of the sequence of events on the 20th April which led to the disaster on Deepwater Horizon

By Bill Campbell, Retired HSE Group Auditor, Royal Dutch Shell.

Operating Blind in Deepwater

Only minutes before the blowout on Deepwater Horizon on 20th April everything was reported as being in order.  The negative pressure test of the integrity of the well had been good and the displacement of seawater after this test was going fine.

But just 25 minutes after this reassuring message was passed to the senior toolpusher, mud started to overflow from the well onto the drill floor.  With only seconds to act and do the right thing mistakes were made which allowed gas to be ingested into areas of the rig where sources of ignition were present.  Actions that could have been taken to prevent the ignition of the gas were not taken and four minutes after the blowout commenced most of the crew, on or near the drill floor, were killed in the first explosion. read more

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Oil Rig Safety Expert Bill Campbell comments on the BP Report

Bill Campbell, former HSE Group Auditor of Shell International, answers questions put to him concerning the BP Report published on 8 September 2010.

(Extracts from Bill’s response)

I was asked by both BBC TV and Channel 4 to comment on the BP report in last night news features but couldn’t manage due to other constraints.

What do you think of the timing of BP’s report into Deepwater Horizon?

Given the limitations put on them I think it looks reasonable.  Cannot understand the open hostility to BP with comments like BP share the blame.  The fact is ref my article A Can of Worms there is a lot of blame to be shared around.  In the ambulance chasing Society that is the U.S. you seek out the guys with the deepest pockets.  The report is at least an opportunity away from the face to face confrontation for BP to state their case and I think they do that well.  Whether they are right or not remains to be seen. read more

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Inquiry into Deepwater Horizon continues to open up a can of worms

Expert comment from Bill Campbell (right), retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International

John

The attachment ( A Can of Worms) is a reaction to the BBC News/Robert Peston article posted on your website. Please publish all or part as you see fit or otherwise file for reference.

Yesterday’s event in context

The explosion yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico again highlights the dangers of having an explosive gas air mixture concurrent with a source of ignition.  It seems a miracle that 13 men apparently blown into the sea survived. Ironically many such accidents happen when facilities are shutdown and vessels are opened up. read more

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Oil companies warned on North Sea accidents

MESSAGE FROM BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED GROUP HSE AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL

John

You may be interested in this, things are not getting better offshore and the figs for 2009/10 exclude the helicopter incident.

What should concerns offshore workers is that for example the operators or installations who are having the increase in gas releases are not highlighted in the HSE report.  It appears a fundamental weakness that you can find out how your local hospital is performing but not how the installation your friends or family are employed on is performing.  Despite pressure to provide specific data the HSE still produces general data masking from public scrutiny the worst offenders.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2010/hse-offshorestats.htm read more

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RETIRED SHELL OFFSHORE EXPERT SPEAKS OUT AGAIN ON GULF OF MEXICO DISASTER

I believe you are seeing the early unravelling of this affair pointing more and more towards the owner and operator Transocean, the US legislators, and the US Oil Industry.

EMAIL TO JOHN DONOVAN FROM BILL CAMPBELL, RETIRED HSE GROUP AUDITOR, SHELL INTERNATIONAL, AN EXPERT ON OFFSHORE PLATFORM SAFETY ISSUES

John

It appears I was right in my analysis, your website was the first to present this data – its a pity that your journalist friends did not pick it up.

It was the 25th June that I passed the analysis to Professor Bea, and the 28th June to the Chemical Safety Board. They have indirectly at least thanked me for that input via my friend Raymond Holroyd.

My analysis raised concerns that platform alarms and gas detection alarms appeared to be inhibited according to testimony by the survivor Mike Williams (CBS 60 minutes).  – you covered this on your website. read more

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