BP’s cement contractor on the drilling rig that exploded in 2010 and caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history said its recent discovery of missing cement samples was the result of a “simple misunderstanding,” not an attempt to withhold crucial evidence.
In a court filing, Halliburton attorneys accused BP PLC of trying to create a “sideshow” during an ongoing trial over the deadly disaster. They argued the British oil giant is trying to deflect attention from its own actions.
The explosion in the Gulf of Mexico led to the deaths of 11 rig workers.
“There is no evidence that (Halliburton) acted deliberately or intentionally, or that the isolation of the (missing cement) was the result of anything other than a simple misunderstanding,” Halliburton lawyers wrote.
Last week, BP asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to sanction Halliburton for allegedly destroying evidence that could have been used at trial. BP cited the allegations as grounds for the judge to rule that Halliburton’s cement design on the drilling project was unstable before the April 2010 blowout of BP’s Macondo well.
Halliburton attorneys dismissed BP’s request as “the latest chapter in its book of finger pointing.”
Earlier Tuesday, the judge told attorneys he isn’t certain how soon he will rule on the issue. The judge is hearing testimony without a jury.
Barring a settlement, the judge could decide after the trial how much more money BP and its contractors owe for their roles in the catastrophe.
Earlier this month, Halliburton discovered cement samples at a laboratory that weren’t turned over to the U.S. Justice Department for testing after the spill.
Tim Quirk, who was a Halliburton laboratory manager, testified that he secured all of the samples he believed were related to the Macondo well in a locker and stored others in a warehouse, never suspecting the recently discovered samples could be related to the case.
“I had no way of knowing,” he said.