in 1996. i was awarded a claim that 0% -- at 0%. a doctor says that treating me is service-connected. in their own pamphlet, it says it is service-connected. they just completely deny. guest: your question is do they train va doctors to make those kind of calls? no, they certainly did not. you have a decision like that made by a case officer, not a doctor. he will be tried to the implement rules. a lot of times those folks are

overwhelmed with cases. i would persevere. i have seen many cases were all it takes is one more phone call to the american legion or other veterans service organizations. i know it is frustrating. find -- again, it is not the third is anything wrong with the model, it is because we have imposed the silly rules. host: mike, in madison mississippi. see, i want to mention a couple of things. -- caller:. i want to mention a couple of things. when it driving -- when driving past hospitals, believe me, you can drive past many in the private system that are not in your plan.

i have used the va. one of the things that struck me, and i have been out of the military for many years, but it is a rational kind of system. people think it is regimented. everything it makes sense. there is someone doing this for a reason. i felt it was an integrated approach. everyone kind of knows what everyone else is doing. part of that was an incredibly good medical record they have. my background is in information technology. theirs was eons behind -- beyond anything i've seen in private doctors' offices. guest: thank you, for that. tell your neighbors. you're starting point about who has access to health care, my wife and i live in the nation's capital. we have gold brick health

insurance. she and i have spent six weeks looking for a primary care doctor who is still taking patients and is in that network. if anyone wants to say it is a debate about choice of doctor or access, get out there in the real world. that is the situation in the washington, let alone the rural areas, or the inner city, tougher neighborhoods. when you go to the va, you get a primary physician, a particular nurse, a particular social worker, and a particular clerk that works as a team with them. when you come then, they can give you the antibiotic, but they can also direct you to any kind of mental health service that you might need, even direct you to other places in the va that will help you get a job, a

cheaper mortgage, a whole panoply of services. on theet's go to hawaii democrats' line. caller: good morning. the service at this hospital is very great. my comment is when these men come home and they aren't sergeants, lieutenants, corporals, -- and they are sergeants, lieutenants, corporals, they do not come out mentally stable. they want their kids to have their socks straight. it is like military time. they opened up a workshop for these men and slowly work them

into getting out of the mind set. what happened is a lot of them, -- i would say it does help. living in hawaii, as long as the military is taking care of those families, especially, i guess, we really care about them. host: 1 brings up the point of rural veterans. guest: it is an access for everyone that lives out in the countryside. we can and should do more about getting clinics out. the va outsources sometimes.

they make contractual arrangements with local providers. rural health care is an issue onto itself. host: phillip longman, the author of "best care anywhere" and a senior research fellow. thank you for talking with us. that is all for our show today coming up tomorrow, our guests include mark anyway -- mark hemingway. we will also check with aoron viles and todd harrison, with the senator for strategic and budgetary assessment, continuing our focus on veterans, looking at pay and benefits for military

personnel. thank you for joining us. believe that it's 7:00 a.m. eastern time -- we will be back at 7:00 a.m., eastern time tomorrow. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] . .

>> good morning. will you please rise and raise your right hand?

false statement is punishable by as rigid by fine. do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? >> yes, sir. >> thank you. >> for the record, could you please spell your name? >> charles creber. >> who are you employed with? >> drillquip. >> how long have you been there? >> 12 years. >> any previous experience with oil and gas? >> yes. i have been in the oil field for 30 years. >> the other 18 years, what did you do? >> i spent some time at frank

casen and had a previous stance with drill quip. >> roughly how many years with them? >> 18. >> any special training for your job he would perform on the deepwater horizon? >> yes. >> can you elaborate? >> we go through training on drilling equipment, the installation of it. >> what day did you arrive on the deepwater horizon. >> it was the monday of the week before, i think the 12th. >> what actually were you doing on the deepwater horizon, sir? >> we were installing the case and hanger -- casing hanger. we were there to run the lock down. >> were you going to run that? >> yes. >> we are run to put up a display of the location we assume you were from your written statement.

if you could confirm that. >> we are going to you a microphone. >> i was on the main deck approximately here. >> all right. thank you. you're the only drill quip represent in? >> yes, sir. >> on the morning of the 20 f, can you please give me your best recollection of what took place up to the time of the incident? >> i had spent some time the prior evening. i got some sleep that day. that afternoon, i woke up and

went out on the deck. i gathered up tools and what not that we would need for the operation me would be doing later on. >> what happened right around the time of the incident? >> approximately 9:00 p.m. that evening we had gone to the port deck which recall the booking unit. we put together these assemblies and we were doing that. we had just completed that operation in bugging up the lock down sleeve and running to that. mr. don clark came to me and said he needed to go to the pits. >> who is don clark? he was one of the a.d.'s with

transocean. he left that area and approximately 30 seconds to one minute later someone said, "the well is blowing out." at the time it was approximately 50 feet from the rig door. i went back to the floor. i observed drilling mud, the only way i can describe it, it is like a waterfall. it was apparent to me that it filled up with drilling mud. we proceeded, myself and other gentleman, to walk along the port side of the wreck on the main deck going towards the forward lifeboats. with that approximately half way there. my first thought was we were getting rained on by this drilling mud. it is blowing out the well. my first thought was to get on

to the heliport. from that point, we will see what we need to do. we did that. on the horizon we have a walkway that when all the way around the bridge. we've been on the backside of the bridge. brandon made a comment that needed to go to the lifeboats. we proceeded to go to that area. we walked back along the bridge area. when i got back to the main deck and turned the corner on the handrail, all of the lights went out. a second or two later, i heard the first explosion. >> it do you know where that came from in relation to the rig? >> i have no idea. i heard a loud explosion and proceeded to walk down the stairwell going down to the lifeboat. . i was approximately halfway down the set of stairs when i heard a second explosion.

the watertight door right in front of me -- well, let me reword that. it was maybe 10 or 15 feet in front of me, it blew open and debris was flying help. -- flying out. i observe people coming out of the living quarters. i got a life preserver, put it on, and when i got to the lifeboat no. two, me and another gentleman, i do not know who it was at the time, we proceeded to open up the door. i went into a lifeboat to. -- lifeboat 2. >> when you're going towards the helen that, were you continuously being radon -- going towards the delid -- helideck, were you being rained on? >> it seemed like when we left that area and walk along the port side and got about halfway,

that is when i realize that the mud was hitting us. it was raining down on us. >> was a mod or mud-water? can you differentiate? >> to my recollection, it was mud. >> prior to your leaving the area, did you hear a gas or air release? >> know. -- no. >> did you look back at the garrick and identify that it was coming right out of the garrick? -- did you look back at the de rrick? >> yes, i could see. >> from the time you got from where you were to the lifeboat area you could still see it flowing through the derrick? how long was that? >> yes. maybe a minute. it was pretty quick.

>> did you said the nine -- did you set the 9 7/8 assembly? >> yes. to release the tool, we initially put 20,000 down on to the tool to hold it in place. we rotate six turns to the right, which we did. at 6 turns we got an indication that it was in a position to set the seal assembly. we proceeded to slack off on the drill string another foot which would put the seal assembly in place to be set. from that point, i was on the rig floor. i proceeded to leave halliburton unit, which we always used to set and test of the sea subassemblies' -- and said and test these seal assemblies.

majeure these were good. when we did the seal assembly test, we did a 4000 psi test and held that for 30 seconds. when that was looking good and holding, we proceeded to go to 10,000 psi. we held that for 10 seconds. from that point, we went back down to 6700. that was the test pressure that the customer had indicated that he wanted to do the actual test. >> who was the customer? >> bp. >> did they provide you with the procedure or was this a drill quip procedure? >> the procedure was following drill quip and the pressure is chosen by the customer. >> the first time you tried to

do the seal assembly, was that a success? >> yes. >> the second time, was a success? >> yes. >> why did you pressure up to 10,000 twice for 10 seconds? >> that is correct. >> why? >> that is part of a standard procedure. we recommend to ensure that it is set. >> did any tests on the seal assembly indicated a problem? >> not all. >> what is the pressure rate for the 9 7/8 assembly? >> it is 15,000 psi. >> is it designed to hold negative pressure from above? >> i am not sure -- >> is designed to hold a negative pressure from above? >> i do not know. >> is it designed to help pressure from below? >> with that pressure is, i do

not know. >> are you familiar with the casing lockdowns leave? >> yes. it latches on to the ever point of the wellhead and locks everything into place. -- it locks onto the upper point of the well head. >> is the seal assembly more likely to fail? >> is attached to the casing hanger. >> falling leave seal assembly test when you were pulling the string, why was it not run if that time? -- brown at that time? >> that was a decision made by bp. >> eu said the sleeve? >> yes. >> he said the procedure was set

by bp. >> they were going to go in with a drill pipe, and as far as i knew, said a plug and displaced. >> i have no further questions. >> i just have two follow-up questions here. just for clarification, when you are trying to set the seal assembly, was their aim. up 40 minutes where you held the pressure -- was there a point of to 40 minutes where you held the pressure? >> did you hold the drive for 40 minutes? for some period of time? >> no, sir. if i understand the question correctly, the answer would be no. >> when you share at -- shear

out? >> this one was about 85,000. >> do you pick it up gradually? >> yes. the pens will shear out. >> how long does it take for you to pick up gradually? >> a matter of seconds. >> after you've shear out, do you read test? do you shear out a second time? >> the pans are already sheared. -- the pins are already sheared on the running tool. >> occasionally you will see derive from that. did you hold that for a 30 minute pressure test? >> when you are picking up by the running tool? no, sir. >> at some point, is the casing exposed to any pressure that you

put on that area? >> no, sir. >> you have to pullout than running the tool? >> but all pressure is released by that time. >> the new poll of the running tool. what is the size of it? -- ben eu pool -- a then you pull out the running tool. >> 14 inches abruptness in -- 14 inches approximately. >> do you recall of the string was pulled wet when you pulled the running tool? >> i do not recall that. i do not think so. >> do you recall they've needed to plug the hole? >> they typically would have pumped the slug, yes. for certain if they did on this one, i do not know. >> the purpose of the pump and a

slug is for what? >> to keep from pulling a wet string. >> with that being an indication of an issue that the seal is not set? >> not necessarily. it could be coming from the well or inside the hangar. >> can you explain that? >> vc held just basically seals off any pressure or any thing from the backside of the hangar. it does not do anything for the idea of the hangar. >> if you pull a wet spring, you could be swapping from the inside of the casing? >> it is possible. not very likely the. >> in your experience being for -- being with drill quip setting the assembly, do you normally see the strain wet after you blow it? >> no, sir.

>> thank you. >> i need to back up a little bit. under normal running and setting operations, when you run the seal assembly, what is the next step? do you run the lockdown sleeve after you do your test? >> it is the customer's decision. i have done it both ways. >> so you leave that up to the customer to make that decision? >> yes. >> thank you. >> good morning, sir. when you were on the deck, you said you had seen a fluid, whether it be mad or something, off of the drill floor. what prompted you to head to the helipad? did you hear anything? >> no, sir. i just felt that that was the

thing to do at the time. >> as you made your way around, you described that there was a door 10 or 15 feet in front of you that blew out. do you know what that door was? >> it was a watertight door coming from the hallway that went right the gal -- went right by the galley and living quarters. >> how did it come out? >> i seem to recall either immediately or one second or two after i heard the second explosion that it just flew open. >> what did it look like in the open position? was a distorted? >> i never got a good look at the door itself. >> how was the rescue boat. ? was an orderly in the rig? >> yes. >> with your time in the field,

how would you measure your order of it? typical? >> yes. >> have you been in this situation before? >> one other time. >> one was that situation? >> this was more organized, actually. >> what was the previous experience? >> it was approximately 20 or 30 years ago. >> how do you feel the training in droves on board the deepwater horizon are conducted? have you participated in those? >> yes, sir. >> howard did minister? -- how were administered? >> we had routinely safety meetings where things were discussed. i felt they were adequate. >> think you very much. -- thank you very much.

>> bp. [laughter] >> transocean. cameron. halliburton. yes, sir. weatherford. anadarko. douglas brown. thank you, sir. are there any questions that we did not ask you more information relating to the investigation that you would like to offer at this time? >> nothing comes to mind.

>> thank you, sir, for your testimony. william make yourself available in the future? >> yes, sir. >> you were dismissed. we call on mr. burgess with transocean.

>> good morning, mr. burgess. thank you for being here. >> a false statement given to an agency of the united states is punishable by fines and or imprisonment. knowing this, do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you get? >> yes, i do. >> thank you, sir. please be seated. >> good morning. before we began, are you comfortable with having the representative from transocean's council represent you? >> yes. >> can you please state your name and spell your last? >> micah burgess, b-u-r-g-e-s- s. >> who are you employed with?

>> transocean. >> what is your job? >> i am a driller. >> how long have you been with transocean? >> about two years and two months. >> any previous experience with the drilling industry? >> yes. >> can you elaborate. >> i have been with transocean for nine years, two years with run prior to that. >> were you always on the deepwater horizon? >> yes, sir. >> what positions did you hold on the deepwater horizon other than a driller? >> forehand, -- floor hand, assistant driller, derrick hand. >> can you tell me your educational background. >> high school. >> what was your role as a driller on the deepwater horizon? >> my role was to maintain,

watch in the way, i had the authority to shut the well down any time i had a doubt about anything, responsible for my career. >> how many would you consider your career? -- your crew? >> there were nine of us. >> i am sure you have had well controlled trading. when was your last? >> the last was december of last year. >> what do you learn at these controlled courses? >> you learn procedures and do simulated training on circulating out kinks and shedding the wells down. you detect the flow, pick up, shut down the flow, control

pressure, calculate lead weights, all of this. >> do you recall having trading on subsidies? in will control? -- subsea well control? >> that is what is specialize in. >> how long had you been there before the explosion? >> one week. >> can you give me a brief summary of the day when you woke up to the time of the incident? >> i was still in bed at the time i heard a faint sound. it sounded different. i turn my tv off. i went to the brick floor. -- rig floor. after the first explosion, the lights went out. i got up, put clothes on, and proceeded to the muster

station which would have been a the master control room. i got on the intercom and told everyone to muster to the lifeboats. >> when did you begin that day? >> i would have got on around 11:30 p.m. or midnight. >> when did you get off work? >> i got off around 11:30 a.m. or noon that day. >> so you were working that day? >> yes. >> can you give me background on your portion of the day? >> we set the seal assembly. we finished getting that in place. we tested it twice. we pulled the release from the hangar. we laid down our tools and proceeded to the top of the bop

and did a casing test. that was before i was relieved right prior to finishing the test. >> what test was that? >> that was the positive text -- test on the casing with the blind shear. >> review aware of any vip of's? >> yes, there were people coming. >> were they on the floor? >> they have not made it yet. >> he said you were watching the closed-circuit television. what did you see when you turned it on? >> i did not make it to the channel. it was on regular television. i was still scrolling down the channels. i never made it. >> you said you heard a voice of the intercom to change your location. >> at first, they said to go to the alternative muster station which would have been the galley. they changed it because of the

shape it was in. they told everyone to proceed to the lifeboatss one and two. like you said your first muster was the engine control room? >> that was where i would have went. >> you heard not to go there. >> they told everyone to go to the lifeboats. >> so you were given notice. >> they told me not to go that way. did you hear that over the intercom? >> they said for everyone to go to the lifeboats. they did not say to go to your stations. they said for everyone to muster at the lifeboats. >> how long have you been on the deepwater horizon prior to the wednesday before? were you always there? >> yes, sir. >> any problems with loss returns? >> yes, sir. >> how often? >> we had one time while i was

out there. it was already in when we had a loss return. >> when would is -- when was that? >> probably a month prior to this event. >> any problems with a stuffed pipe? >> we got stuck. >> how often does that happen? >> once on this will. >> win? >> that would have been casing four so one month ago. >> can you give me a month and day? >> around march? >> any problems with cementing any of the other casing's? >> not than i am aware of. >> aware of any nitrifying it seem that jobs in the case in? >> only the last producing stream and your servers 1. we did not do that. >> you were aware?

>> yes, i was aware of. >> so there were two. >> the only one i was aware of was the last one. that was the 7 by 9 7/8. >> were you around for the negative tests? >> no. >> did you hear anything about the tests for the cement? >> no. >> is their policy to lock out been bop stock on the well? >> to lock it out? >> do you know if it was locked at the time of the incident? >> it was not. it should not have been. i do not know if it was. >> were you aware of stack issues prior to the incident? >> there was one coal fault we had.

>> oil? >> coil fault. one minor leak and possibly hydraulic. there was nothing there. >> who brought that to your attention? when was that? >> it had been weeks prior. >> any plans to modify that issue? >> when we poll did, -- when we pulled it. it was not something that would have stopped anything. >> as a thriller, can you please tell me the will control -- as a driller, can you please tell me the control procedures when you have a disconnect? >> when we go to a red alert, you disconnect. i do not have to have the authority of no one.

i disconnect. >> what do you do when the drill is down? >> you push one button, hit push-hold and hit the big red button. >> any way that could be operated by another system? >> not that i am aware of. >> it another system was in neutral, would it have prevented activation? >> not that i am aware of. >> do you know if the auto shear could have been disabled? >> you can go to e.p.s. 2. if you have a casing across the staff, instead of your blind shear cutting it, your case in shear would shear the casing. then your blinds would close behind it. >> do you know if there was anything cross staff at the time? >> no. >> i know you do not know or

nothing would have prevented it? >> nothing should have prevented it. >> thank you. >> normally when you -- what is the normal flow path from the boat to the rig? >> it goes out the flow line. when you pump down the pipe, you come back up at your flying rigid flow line to the puit room. -- pit room. they would have to physically pump it to the boat. >> is there any way to divert that system to go from and many take to the boat? >> no. >> why not? >> do have to monitor volume. >> is it possible? >> no. >> you just cannot. there is no volvo to lighten up to go that way. >> you cannot lead a rigid line up a medical? >> not straight from the rig floor?

-- you cannot line it up that way. >> do you ever having a hard time understand what is going on right -- real-time on the rig floor? >> what was your role as an assistant driller? >> they assist me in getting information, figures, whenever i need to run this equipment. you cannot be figuring this out and running the equipment at the same time. they run the wracking equipment. >> how many screens does a driller monitor in the consoles? >> 3. >> what are on those? >> we have two high-tech screens. >> what does the first one monitor? >> trip tanks, turn flow

volumes, smart tools for drilling, sensitivity, gamma ray. >> if there was information from the tanks? >> yes. we would have that on our high tech screens, too. >> do you know of any way to prevent the monitoring at the time of the incident? is there any way that the derailleur, i know you were not in the consul, but was there any way that there was no indication that something was coming up the well? >> anyway? >> not that -- to the best of your knowledge, an indication in the consul -- console. >> yes, they should have been. >> that is all that i have. thank you, sir. >> if you follow-up questions.

these drilling rigs today get complicated and you get a lot of people in the driller's area. did you ever had a problem with too many people making too much noise so you could that focused? >> sometimes you get quite a few people in there. i have the authority to tell them to leave or ask them to leave. everyone had been very cooperative with that when i told them i needed quiet. they quieten down. >> but you can be distracted sometimes? >> most of the time, they know when they come in there to be quiet. >> can we walk back through the ship when you were actually on duty? you said when you came on you were pumping cement. >> it was already pumping. >> were they in displacement? >> yes. >> were they on the rig pumps?

>> yes. >> while they were on the pumps, did anyone tell you about any loss returns on the displacement? >> no, sir. >> there is no evidence that the seamen was being displaced or anything of that -- that the cement was being displaced or anything of that nature? >> no, sir. >> did you notice anything coming out of the well? >> no, sir. >> there had been some comments about not doing a bottoms up. do you know if they did a bottoms up? in the changeover, did anyone tell you that? >> i do not know if they did a full bottoms up or not. i know they've certainly -- they circulated. i do not know how long. >> would it be standard practice to do a bottoms up. >> you try to. >> why would you want to do one? >> to make sure you have good, clean mud.

>> would be checking for gas? >> he would be monitoring gas, too. >> you were there when they set the fuel assembly. >> yes, sir. >> trying to visualize this is difficult to me because you are not really looking at it. it is 1 mile away. you are just looking at the pike movement and the weight indicator -- the pipe movement and weight indicator. was the of dril-quip guy working with you? >> he was right beside me. >> he has to communicate with the halliburton guy. how does he sit next to you and also communicate with halliburton? cracks after what -- >> after i am finished, he lines up with halliburton, does his thing, and before i do anything of further after the test, he comes back. >> how far is it from the

halliburton unit to the broiler's? >> one set of stairs -- from the halliburton unit to driller's? >> so he does when he has to do. once he is satisfied, he walks down to the halliburton unit. >> yes, sir. i can lie to the pressure of the test and i am in communication with halliburton. >> did you notice any problem when he was trying to shear out. . >> yes, -- no, sir. >> from your knowledge, when they tested with the halliburton unit, were there any issues from what you observed? >> no, sir. >> from your knowledge, everything looked normal to your standards. >> yes, sir. >> when you pull that of the whole, did you noticed you were pulling what? >> i did not pull wet. i pumped the slug.

the first few strings pulled wed. that is normal. -- the first few strings pulled wet. >> why do you think it was wet? >> just because you do not have a slug to push it down as you are coming out. it is balanced. >> the displacements during which was 6 5/8 and 3 1/2. >> i did not make it at the depth. i stopped to the top of the bop to perform a casing test. we used the blind shear rams. >> and you stopped with a running string. this time, you still had, and i am just asking, you still had mud all the way around?

>> yes. >> 14 pounds? >> yes. >> he did the test, drove the kill lines. how long did you hold the test? >> on high for 30 minutes. >> any indication of a leak or any issues that concern you? >> no, sir. >> in your opinion, was the test good? >> it was good. >> from that point, you were relieved and you did not make it to the point where you did the surface? >> i was relieved. >> when you had a handoff and you did your hand off, either one of those times, was any information passed between the two crews of abnormal conditions that might relate to an even? >> no, sir. >> the prior ship did not pass on information and you did not see anything on your shift. >> no, sir.

>> thank you very much. >> the morning, sir. -- good morning, sir. the training that is provided to you, thank you for bringing the documents as far as your training history go. you recently had attended firefighting training that was the coast guard approved basic in a dance firefighting. it looks like you completed that in february. -- basic and advanced fire fighting. trading, i think, is important to make work offshore. did the course here, the one we approved, did it prepare you for the situation that occurred on the red? -- on the rig? >> it prepared you for a lot,

but i do not know if it prepared you for something that major, that big. it helps. it was a good course and it helped. what we had out there was too big to handle. >> i understand. is there anything in place on the deepwater horizon, whether it be in the derrick, the moon pool, that could help or augment people from actually going into an area and fighting a fire suppression system? >> in the derrick? >> yes, where you work. is there a fire suppression system in that area? a water sprinkler? >> there could be, but not that i am aware of. there is something in the shaker house, the mud pump rooms, in that sense. i am not aware of something

right there on the rig floor. >> the accommodations, there is a sprinkler system. i did not know if there was anything, because you work on the drill floor, was there anything there that might have been installed? >> there were fire stations on the rig floor. the stations were on the deck below, too. >> do you mean locations for a fire extinguisher? >> fire extinguishers and hoses. >> likewise, your well control training, you said you went in december to thousand nine. that is relatively recent. -- december 2009. that is reason. was that training specific to the type of equipment that you sit behind every day? >> yes, sir.

it was subsea bop but it has difference? . it prepares you for any case. >> you commented about a couple screens in front of you. what were those again? >> my control station is high tech computer screens that have weighed indicators, flow meters, and all of that. >> the information you see on the screens, is it telling you what is going on down the whole or on the break? >> both, the hole and teh rig. -- the rig. >> the indicator would probably be torque if you were drilling. >> if there was something, like a gas bubble, how do you know a

kick is happening? is it based on something you see on the screen? >> wii's. your return flow. your return flow and you would see a gain. >> the indicators that you see on your screen, are those indicators being measured, what is physically located on the rig, or in the hole? >> on the rig. >> so it is a lagging indicator. the sensors are already on the rate. >> yes, but if that happens down the hall, you will see it. >> that is 1 mile down. >> yes, sir. >> would you characterize the training that you got here for well cap, the tools they gave you to run three scenarios, was it similar to the screens you have there? >> it was just not -- it was not just like the screens, but it

has everything that i have. >> ok. i might have missed it, but you were days and mr. anderson was nights? who relieved you? thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> flags date. transocean. cameron.

>> i represent cameron. just a few questions. when the sizes of the pipes? >> 3 1/2 inch, 6 5/8 pipe. >> how long was the 3.5 inch? >> 800 feet. 25 stands at 137 feet per stand. i do not know right off the top of my head. >> were you on ets one or two? >> e.p.s. 1. -- eds 1. >> it is fair to say you do not know specifically what was going

on at the time of the blowout? >> i was not up there. i know where they are supposed to stop. i know what should not have been in there. i do not know what was in there. >> think you, sir. halliburton. . .

>> no questions. anadarko? >> no questions. >> douglas brown? >> no questions. bp? >> no questions. >> thank you. >> deploy, do monitor when they come into the right? >> yes, sir. >> did you feel they have more ballooning effects? >> it was a difficult well. i would not say it was worse than the others. it was difficult.

>> were there any concerns addressed from transocean with bp were any meetings about the difficulties that you were having? >> not that i am aware of. >> into youth normally participate in operational -- do you normally are despite an operational meetings? >> i am not in the operational meetings. >> thank you. >> can i ask a quick clarification tax -- clarification? can you explain what eds one and eds two do? >> etf two -- eds two is for

normal case. >> did you have to collect that? >> yes. >> who does that? >> the engineer. >> does he coordinate with the drilling? >> yes, i would call him crier and tell -- prior and tell him to put us in eds. >> have you ever been in eds two, and in what cases? >> blinds that could not share. >> how often does that have -- does that happen? >> pretty much every time you run casing. >> when you run casing. ok. thank you. >> mr. burgess, are there any

questions that we did not ask to, or any information that is relevant that you would like to offer? >> no, sir. >> yes, sir? >> good morning, sir. if the driller wants to activate eds two, does the driller have to call the engineer for permission? >> i would not have to, but it is how we normally do. we are capable of doing it. >> thank you, sir.

on eds one and eds two, does the hydraulic power come from the surface or the stack on the sea floor? >> thank you have to address an engineer over that. >> ok. >> mr. burgess, thank you for your testimony. if we need for you to come back in the future, will you make yourself available? >> yes. >> thank you, sir. you are dismissed.

>> the board will now call on mr. allen seraile with transocean.

>> mr. seraile, will you please raise orrin hatch and techs a false statement to an agency of the united states this -- will you please raise your right hand? a false statement is punishable by law. these wars tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> baidu. >> please, be seated. >> the tournament represents transocean, are you comfortable with him sitting next to you? -- the lawyer that represents transition, are you comfortable with him sitting next year?

>> yes. >> could you spell your last name. >> s-e-r-a-i-l-e. >> could what position you hold? >> assistant driller. >> how long have you held that position? >> i will say right at one year. >> because all the with the deepwater horizon? >> -- has it all then with the deepwater horizon? >> yes,. how long you been with transocean? >> five years. >> can you tell me about your educational background? >> i did not graduate high school. i quit in the seventh or eighth grade. >> have you received any well

control training recently? >> yes. >> when it was a last time you went? >> i cannot and did it, but it was this year. >> in 2010? >> yes, sir. >> to you know who provided that trading -- that training? >> transocean. >> how long have you been on the pitch prior to the incident, sir? >> i was out there one week. >> you were on the deepwater horizon for the duration of the wealth? >> yes, sir. >> were you aware of any specific trowing problems on that well? >> we have a problem before, such as taking a kick and losing

returns. >> when it did you all take the kick? >> i cannot recall. >> were you on the rate floor? >> no. we got there, and they had already banned on the choke. -- we had already been on the show. >> what time is short our start? >> it started at allow the clock 30 p.m., until 11:00 a.m.. >> can you give me a brief rundown of the day when she came on the tower to drill up until the end of your shift? >> i think we were getting ready -- there were finishing

the cement job. once they finished with the cement john, we started on a whole. -- with a cement job, we started on the whole. >> at the end of your job, digit talk to anyone about what you had completed? >> do you normally do that? >> i talked to my relief. >> did you speak to them on the day of the incident? >> no. >> 11:30, the night before, what was discussed? >> we discussed what was going on. we're getting ready to do the left cement plug. >> did any the vips, the rate floor -- the rate floor? >> to you remember anyone from

bp coming to the rig that day? >> they came to the right, but not the right floor. -- the rig, not the rig floor. >> where were you? >> i was in bed. i called my wife, and then made my rounds to the sub-sea office. >> who were you with? >> christopher pleasant. >> did you describe anything with him? >> he was on the computer, typing in his last report of the casing test. that is all i know. >> was there a discussion of the potential well control issues? >> no, sir. >> what happens after you left the office? >> i was walking down the hall,

and heard loud? venting.e -- la loade >> what happened after that deaths >> i heard the fire, and i turned around -- what happened after that? >> i heard the fire, and i turned around. >> you heard the initial tests for their release. what did you hear after that initial explosion? >> i heard the first explosion. the first explosion, then, it

was either the gas that vented, and ihat was at the door. >> was there a notification not to muster? >> no, sir. >> there was not. did you hear the second explosion? >> yes. >> how much time before the first and second explosion? >> they matter of seconds. >> a much time between the -- how much time between the venting and the first explosion? >> i cannot recall.

>> at any time when your on the deepwater horizon, was the dp staff in any -- was the bp staff locked out in any way? >> not that i recall. >> hasn't ever been on any rig? >> not that i recall. >> were you aware of any bp staff issues? >> no, sir. >> if there was, would you have been made aware? >> i am pretty sure i would have been made aware. >> do you have the authority to activate the eds. >> it is only the senior two pushers.

>> this the senior tour have a role in performing the emergency disconnect? >> no, sir. >> normally, when you displaced the riser, what is the typical flow path back to the rig, and doesn't go directly to the mud, a mini -- and does it go directly to the mud, or a mini rating? >> it goes directly to the raid. >> there is no way to change that? >> no. >> as an assistant driller, what is your role in the driller's cabin? >> i am supposed to find out what is going on and to a daily checklist on all of the flow line returns.

>> our humanitarian anything? >> you are minor train the parameters -- -terrain of the -- monitoring the. volumes. >> i have no further questions. thank you. >> just to follow up on that, quickly, during the day, your primary responsibility is to monitor the screen? >> yes, sir. >> to you go down physically to the pits and talk to people? >> i talked to the character himself. >> the work that air and -- have you worked that area yourself,? >> yes, sir. >> are you comfortable with the procedures? >> yes, sir.

>> in the days that you were on the rig, were you monitoring the pit? did you have to change the procedure? >> no, sir. we montfort it off of dollars greens. then, we verify. >> -- wheat monitor it with our screens. then, we verify. >> were you aware of any unusual pressures that may have occurred while you're on tower? >> no, sir. >> thank you.

>> mr. seraile, he is bringing your statement around that was taken by the u.s. coast guard. i want to make sure that i understand what you have here. you were in the sub-sea office. you were watching tv. you had turned up the channel to the raid floor. you asked what was going on. do you remember that? >> yes, sir. >> what did you see? >> i saw water coming out. then, i turned to the engineer and asked him what they were doing. he said he did not know. it might be coming out of the whole. >> what did you see? was it shooting up?

>> it was shooting up. >> what happened then? what do you remember? >> then, after the water came out, a somewhat come out. i knew it was not coming of of the whole because the block was still sitting still. i turned to him and asked what was going on. he did not know. i left out, and he left out. >> cannot follow up? -- can i follow up? was the water coming out of the drill pipe, or was it coming out in a general area? >> it was not through the drill pipe, i do not think. you could not see the table. you saw the water spray it up. >> there was so much water, and

your visibility was obscured? >> right. >> to lead. >> i have one question. did i hear you correctly to say you had no role in the emergency disconnect? >> i have no role. >> are you familiar with the procedures? >> some of them, yes. >> you do not have any role? >> i was told i was not supposed eds. andedan >> thank you, sir. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> would you characterize yourself as a driller, and the others on the floor as a team? >> yes, sir. >> how many people are working

on tower, the driller, yourself and -- >> the driller, myself, another assistant driller, a kosher, and four for in -- a push her, and four for hands. >> when you were at well control school, and i think you attended at the same time as the -- as the other gentleman, do you practice as a team, or is it based on an individual's performance? >> i think it is based on the individual's performance. >> during that training, you have to do something, move the bells? >> yes, sir. >> you do not go through those

in areas with other people with few, as you might of the drill floor? if you were at work, what other people be helping? >> yes, everyone would be helping out. >> in training, it is just you doing the training? >> at first, and then you have a simulation with a couple of other guys. >> ok. there are a couple of other guys. he worked as a team. >> yes, sir. >> did typically go to the training as a team? you do it on your off time. >> yes, on our of time. >> do you typically go with other members of your team that you work with? >> yes. >> in your state and, you said

your on the fold -- on the phone with your wife. do you know what chris was doing? >> he was on the computer, putting in his left casing test. >> did he tell you if he was doing anything else? >> no. >> did you see the chief mate coming in? what did he tell you? >> he asked me how long it would take to do the cement of. >> did he tell you it would be delayed? >> did he tell chris? >> i think he did. >> did that kush that anything chris was one to me to do, or that you were going to do? >> not that i recall. >> did this happen when it was

called -- when it was told you that it would be delayed? >> that is when it happened. >> to record >> no questions. thank you, capt. halliburton? >> no questions. weatherford? >> no questions. >> anadarko? >> no questions. >> bp? new >> no questions. >> other any questions we did not -- are there any questions we did not answer, or any information that you would like to offer at this time? >> no, sir. >> it is we need you to come back in the future, would you

make yourself available? >> yes, sir. >> thank you, sir. you are dismissed. >> we will take a 10 minute break, and resume at 10:35. to live. -- thank you.

>> continuing our coverage of the coast guard's here in on the explosion of the deep water are rising oil rig. the incident happened last month. the resulting oil spend -- oil spill has continued for 40 days. you can follow the story on our website, c-span.org, where you can watch a live video feed. you can also use the c-span video library to watch congressional hearings and what house events related to this bill. again, a 10 minute break. in the meantime, your phone calls from this morning's "washington journal." embryo operate in the overture emanuel. is by thomas fitzgerald, a staff writer. he writes that president obama's chief of staff dispatched former president

bill clinton last summer as an interimmediate air to see whether representative joe sestak would drop his planned run for the senate if given an unimportant but unpaid advisory position, the white house said friday. clinton made the approach as sestak was launching his challenge to senator arlen specter in the pennsylvania democratic primary. the report reputed by options of service on a presidential or other government advisory board were improper or illegal, and beer wrote there was no such impropriety. here's how congressman sestak has weighed in. in a statement yesterday, he confirmed the white house account. he said clinton had called him last summer and expressed concerns over my prospects in the senate primary, and he then relayed emanuel's suggestion that he serve on a presidential board while staying in the house.

"the inquirer" goes on to report congressman darryl isa from oversight and government reform said he believed the offer was a quid pro quo. les hear what you think about this. our first call is from pennsylvania from todd on the independent line. good morning, todd. caller: good morning. thks for taking my call. it seems to me that the beltway in our nation's capital, you would feel that democrats and republicans and independes, of which i've been for 26 years, would concentrate a little more on relevant issues concerning our country. it seems as though the party they represent presents more of a loyal issue to them than governing on the half of the american people. it seems to mehat, including the media and the hard right,

that whatever can be communicated to attack our young president is put into play immediately. he is doing a stellar job. and we very much appreciate his attention to detail, the discipline he has not to counterattack as many critics, and what has happened in the gulf is a disaster brought about by greed and incompetence on the behalf of b.p. and their affiliates, and our president should receive suffient credit for trying to resolve the problem. host: can i ask you relating to our question this morning, congressman joe sestak, as a pennsylvanian, do you have concerns about this? do you think this was a poor move by the white house? caller: well, when we're talking about the white house, let's talk about emanuel and his special interest.

i'm not especially supportive of mr. emanuel. i believe he has other issues that sometimes, as i just mentioned, supersede thecommon cause, which is our country. i don't think president barack obama was involved in this in any event. clinton, and to be bipartisan, and i am, clinton and emanuel may have been involved in this because they're both big serpts of specter, who i think has really sort of gone into retirement to the benefit of everybody, including our ex-senator, who i did at one time vote for senator specter. so i think the issue is just blown out of proportion and is, again, involved in an attempt to criticizeur young president directly and indirectly, for any and every reason. host: let's go to rick from

florida. hi, rick. caller: good morning. i feel there's a -- i think there should definitely be an investigation, the aorney general, if he doesn't do it, thenhe f.b.i. definitely should. i think there's a pattern here of deception and corruption. it's just common sense and basic instinct, you can feel the pattern, and one other thing, too, as far as the oil spill, it was like a bomber was -- it was kind of like obama was forced to go down there, he was off on his vacation, and the fact that he was not going to arlington cemetery for memorial day, it's just -- i'm want sure -- i think -- i don't is presidential material, and i think he's corrupt. thank you very much. host: let's go to gloria in

atlanta. caller: hello. host: hi, gloria, welcome. caller: thank you. i would like toay president obama 100%. i think he's doing a marvelous job. he has already stated his case that he's been involved since day one, and i believe it, but they are people who are set up to destroy him no matter what he does, and the media plays a bigger part than anybody. host: gloria, let me ask what you think about the situation with congressman sestak. do you think that was an appropriate move? caller: i think they're making a whole lot to do about nothing. we have moreof a crisis with the oil. president obama needs to stay on that, stay focused on that, and this gives the republicans something to talk about, to continue to try to down him.

it seems that mr. sestak is not all worried about it. you know, he wants to should not the media, and i think they need to let that go. host: ok. let's look at this editorial piece in "the washington post," "much ado about mr.estak" some. transparency would have end this had scandal early on. it says, ok, if all the facts are out, we would agree, nothing inappropriate happened. on the basis of the memorandum issued friday by the white house, the joe sestak jobor dropping out of the senate race scandal is a nonscandal, except for the white house's bungling of the episode. the unnecessary coverup, it turns out, is always worse than the noncrime. the editorial goes on to say the talk has been the white house attempt to strong arm or bribe, some critics claim, the pennsylvania congressman to drop out of the senator specter race. the rumor was that the job being deaged was navy secretary, a rumor mr. sestak unhelpfully confirmed by confirming some kind of job offer, but issuing a no comment

when asked about the navy post. this never made much sense. president obama nominat ray mabus to be navy secretary in march last year, a month before mr. specter's party switch. they say tha isn't necessarily in play. but in fact, according to the report, the white house only wanted to keep the field clear for mr. spect, but also wanted to keep mr. sestak in his current seat, understandably, given that he had beaten a republican incumbent in 2006. new york, frank is on our independenline. hi, good morning. caller: good morng. i just wanted to say that this problem that has developed with mr. sestak makes m think of one person who had it right all along from the beginning. and his name is joe wilson. he said that mr. obama is a liar, and you know what? the past 18 months have proven him to be true because of the fact that mr. obama feels that when he gets on the bul pulpit, what he says is the

truth because he says, it but that's not necessarily the truth. unfortunately, he's doing a bad job for this country, and that's all i have to say. thank you. host: ok. let's go to scott, republicans line in big sandy, texas. hi, scott. caller: ok, we're supposed to believe that the white house has investigated itself and found itself not guilty. is that right? this man, this president is the least qualified individual to ever hold the officey a factor of 10. and these people that come on still supporting him i believe are the real racists. the only reason they are supporting him is because of the color of his skin. host: ok, let's go to our- back to -- "the philadelphia inquirer," i wanted to take a look at this, talking about what "the washington post" was mentioning, the way that the white house handled the situation. it says the white house declined for three months to

address sestak's unusual claim, except for repeated assurances from press secretary robert gibbs that nothing inappropriate happened. but eventually the furor grew so intense that it put mr. obama on the spot and it had to be addressed. let's go to our next caller. this is weatherford, texas, brian, democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. i'd just like to say -- start off withveryone in texas knows that those people in big sandy don't kn what ty're talking about. i would point out to big sandy that president ronald reagan offered a job, i can't remember the gentleman meas name, i heard it on one of the cable channels yesterday. th stuff goes on all the time. reagan offered the gentleman a for pay position. the job that was offered in this situation was a nonpaid

position. there's no problem here. this goes on with every administration. it's just a tempest in a tea spot, and these people need to settle down and think about their lives and straighten their heads out, because they're all wrong on this. thank you. host: ok. and i wanted to make a correction from something i said earlier. the president is attending o monday the abraham lincoln national cemetery outside of chicago, where he will be in illinois on memorial day, rather than in arlington national cemetery. let's go to our next call. little also in texas, this time in marshall. james, independent line, hello. caller: hello. host: hello, welcome. caller: yeah, i think the whole thing -- i'm 35 years old. i've been around for a while. and this whole thing seems like a big media hype. if they want some arm twisting, they need to remember president johnson. it's a big media hype, and guys say about the color of his skin, no, no, no the reason he's a good president is because he's intelligent and doesn't do with the color of

his skin. if he was white, he'd still be a good president. and the people -- he's talking about people out here in texas, this is one of the biggest k.k.k. areas that you'vever seen in your life. if you ain't right and they say it all the time, and they walk around with those little banners, they got to mark that on their mailboxes, you know, i'm k.k.k. and i'm proud of it, you know, at this mean, it's getting ugly out here, and that's all i want to say. host: let' g take a look at comments that congressman sestak made yesterday. >> congressman were a wear that this could have been very much a misdemeanor or perhaps even a felony? >> oh, if i ever thought anything had been wrong about this, i would have reported it. >> you'veonsistently said that nothing inappropriate happened. is it your contention that what president clinton said, bringing up a job in relation to your senate race, would you say that's not inappropriate -- that's inappropriate or no? >> well, i was very conscious

that the democratic administration did not want me in the race, and i merely looked at this as just another effort by the democratic establishment in washington, d.c., not to have me in the race. >> was it inappropriate? >> no, president clinton, there's nothing wrong that was done. host: for a different perspective, "the new york post" has this editorial, setback lesson for new york, and it says that, sure, it's moderately interting that the designated bulldozer in the attemptedest is a.m. disappearance turns out to have been former president bill clinton, and it's also possible to offering him a job was a crime. so the whole affair bears watching. but we say it again, the obama white house all by itself is pretty adept at shutting down senate primaries. it looks at the race of senator gillibrand and points out that she was appointed to succeed hillary clinton, and it points out that potential opponents were scuttled, including, they say, representative steve

israel, democrat from long island, whom the president personally called and asked to drop out of that race. representative caroline maloney, ex-congressman harold ford, democrat of tennessee, with a strong wall street message, could have overcome his out of state roots, as bobby kennedy and hillary clinton did before him, but as ford acknowledged, the heavy-handed tactics of obama's party bosses carried the day. that is coming to us from "the new york post." let's go to north carolina. norm, republicans line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i believe this sestak thing is jussmoke and mirrors. it's taking our whole focus away from really what's going on. john edwards filled the same gap just a few months ago with his coming out about his boyfriend being the father of his girlfriend's baby, and this

oil spill thing, our president didn't go down there until there was a good chance of being over. and there's other smokesnd mirrors going on. watch your backs, folks. host: the "new york times" calls it unintelligent design. they say that there does not seem to be anything terribly unethical about the white house offer, but they do say there's something strikingly unintelligent about it. why would the white house, using a former president offer mr. sestak a job? sister takes about 30 seconds, they point out, toeeling those rules appved in 1993 by president clinton himself. down in elkton, maryland, steve, democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning. i'm the host of democratic talk radio which broadcasts from lehigh valley. host: welcome. what do you think about mr.

sestak? that is prime territory for this situation. caller: absolutely. well, the whole deal is sestak is a squeaky clean economic populist, and he is fing a wall street-backed, totally corporate opponent, who acally was a former congressman for lehigh valley. actually two-fold. one is to take the focus off his record, his oonent. now, his entire political career has been, in my opinion, a scandal. he has totally served interests, which is all about big money. it's all about, you know, looking out for the economic and political powers that be, and they really want -- they're tryingo associate sestak with a scandal, and there is no scandal, and they're also trying to spare the white house. this is just politics as usual. it's character assassination by the republicans. not all republicans are like that. a lot of republicans are really

decent people. but these republican politicians that are bought and paid for by corporate interests will stop at nothing. there's absolutely no crime. they originally said the daily was for secretary of navy when there was a new secrery of navy appointed a month or so before this offer was made. it's just distracted. it is a distraction. host: let's see what republican issa had to say about this. >> the rest of the republicans on the judiciary committee are today sending aetter to robert mueller, the director of the f.b.i., asking him to open an investigation in a similar fashion to the one done under the clinton white house, so-called travelgate. we believe that if the attorney

general will not, as s been asked of him both in hearings and by the senate republicans, investigate this. at a minimum, allegations made and now confirmed need to be checked by law enforcement officials able to discern whether these or other criminal codes have been violated. host: next caller is arthur on our independent line in dallas, texas. good morning, arthur. caller: good morning. yes, i just want to say, it's all about that dollar, like i was sayi before, the greed, all of theare greedy up there. and honest people that work for a living. the who will idea is to have to you know, sort of setting up there, getting paid eight hours a day, trying to figure out how to rob the next dollar from the american taxpayers, and like the oil spill, for example,

look how much -- there's one out there, and that's just one whale. host: bill clinton is involved in the arkansas race. he returned to his home state against some of the most powerful interests in the democratic party t. using unusually vivid language to describe threats against senator blanch lincoln, clinton urged voters to resist outside forces, maken an example of the two-term democratic incumbent. he pounded the podium warning that national liberal and labor groups wanted to make her a poster child in the june senate runoff to send a message about what happened to democrats who don't toe the party line. the former president said this is about using and you manipulating your votes to

terrify members of congress and members of the senate. let's go to cape cod, massachusetts, republican, tom. good morning. caller: good morning, and may everyone in the country remember what this weekend is about, celebrating and honoring our veterans but mr. sestak is a former admil and a military man, and truth is power. and i believe what my father told me is when you tell the truth, you wiltell it over and over again in the same fashion, and there will be no deviation from what you have heard or have seen or what you believe. and in this case, he was offered a job. to me a job is something you get paid for, not a gratuity. and becoming a senator is a very powerful and in the end, it's a very monetary reward in

that you get very many possibilities in your life during a after your senateship. so mr. sestak and everybody else have to tell the truth, and let's not deviate from the truth. and if everybody does tell the truth, this story will be the sa over and over again. but there is, in my opinion, a lot of little nuances that tell us that the truth is not being told. host: pennsylvania, democrats line, linda. hi, lind. caller: hi. i think this is indeed much ado about nothing. this whole story came out months ago when joe sestak was running ainst arlen speck tempt nobody reallyared very much. now that sestais running again, the republicans see a great opportunity t

>> from this morning's "washington journal. now, back to the hearing on the coast guard. two witnesses remain, including an operations manager for pp. this is live coverage on c-span. -- 4 pp. this is live coverage on cease -- 4 bp. this is live coverage on c-span. -- for bp. this is live coverage on c-span.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> mr. morales.

will you please raise your right hand? a false statement given to an agency kathy united states is punishable -- of the united states is punishable. do you swear the testimony you will, give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? >> yes. >> are you represented by counsel? >> yes. [laughter] >> yes, sir. >> mr. morales, you are aware that a representative seated next to represents transocean, and you are fine with that. could you state your name and spell your live last?

>> heber morales, m-o-r-a-l-e-s >> can you stick your current position? roustabout. >> have had any experience prior to that? >> no, sir. >> can you briefly describe your responsibility? >> my responsibility is to assist the crane crew in cleaning, maintenance, and anyone else that may need assistance in other departments. also, rescue teams, fire response team.

>> how long have you then -- have you been on the rig prior to the date of the incident? >> since the thursday before i cannot recall the date, but the thursday before that. >> as a roustabout, did you ever make her way to the rate floor? >> everyone's in a while just for safety meetings -- every once in a while, just for seeking meetings. >> were you familiar with the equipment? >> no. >> can you give us your best recollection of the day? >> yes, sir. i got up. i want to eat. >> what time did you wake up? i cannot recall. around the clock in the morning. -- are around 9:00 in the morning.

i went to eat at about 10:30 p.m. -- to cut 30 a.m.. after that, we have a pre-power meeting. i waited till about 11:30 to start working. as far as the work, we were boating on a supply , until about 6:00, when we went to eat lunch. after that, we saw the other crew that was working on the crane, replacing the reel, if they were done, or needed to be relieved. being that they were almost done, they told us to go about whatever else we had going on.

we had a little bit of cleaning. after that, it was probably somewhere around 8:30 at night, as i can recall. after that, we started making up tools for dril-quip, with a bucket machine, which is a tool that puts tools together. after that, after a few lifts were made, a few tools were put together, that this one at dawn car and the dril-quip represent -- that is one don clark and and the dril-quip rep -- i am not sure, a question came up, as i recall, and don clark went up to

the drill fuller. around the same time, i started seeing that much had started to come -- that mudd had started coming out of somewhere in the raid floor. i'm not sure where. at the first site, i was not sure it was mud. after a little while, i could not recognize the smell. hydraulic oil is pretty noticeable. i am not sure what it was. another roustabout that was with me had been working on other offshore rigs. he pretty much told me we're

having a blowout. , not having the experience, i was like, let's see what will come about. as we were sitting there, seeing what was happening, what the drill floor was when to do, we noticed more and more mud coming out. it seemed that it stopped for a while, very briefly. then, it came out with much force. it was a much louder noise. there was a lot more coming out. even mud flowing out of the rig floor. at that point,, we moved as far

away back as we could. after that, the lights went out. when the lights went out, the first explosion happened. i was able to stand behind a post that is used when we store the riser. as i waited, the second explosion happened. that is when i saw the fire. that is when i decided to go to the life boat. i decided to go to the front. at that time, my first thought was to go to the firefighting equipment. i was not the only one there

when i got there. as i was on time in my boots, i noticed i was the only one there. i looked up at the desert again. by that -- at the end derrick again, and by that time, i knew we would not be able to fight this fire. i put my boots back on, and made my way back to the life boat. when i got there, there were other members of the roustabout group that thought the same as i did, there was no way we require to be able to put the fire out. -- there was no way we're recalling to be able to put the fire out. we awaited further instructions. just a few seconds after that, maybe mense, i cannot recall, we were instructed to board the

boats. we sat there waiting for whoever had to be on the life boats. we were lowered to the water. we went aboard. from then on, we made our way to shore. . . >> when you saw the gas, or whatever you saw coming out of the gasser, where were you? >> i was right there. >> did you know what it was?

>> it goes up, and it comes down, and that is where i saw the mud coming out. >> can i take this? >> yes sir, if you don't mind. after you heard the bang from the gasser, how much later was that first explosion? >> i cannot really tell you. i do not recall, but it was a few seconds. >> did you hear any other noises prior to the first explosion, outside of what you're hearing coming from the gasser? >> no sir. >> how much later after the first explosion was the second one? >> just seconds.

>> how long did it take you to get from the location that you just indicated to where you were able to try to fight the fire? >> probably about 10 seconds if i had to guess. i just ran out there. >> do you remember any communication orders, where to muster, or how to fight the fire? >> as i ran out onto the rig, the alarm, they were saying something over the intercom, but to tell the truth, a really wasn't paying attention. after training every sunday, you know where to go. the fire was obvious, so, i knew where the fire was at. i did not receive a orders from anybody. >> why did you go to the lifeboats? >> that is where you go if you

are primary or secondary. if your office tower, you're required to go to the back -- if you are off-tower, you are required to go to the back. >> did you notice any damage to the back of the vessel? did you see the other life vessels and? >> i could not see them from where i was standing. >> that is all i have for you, sir, thank you. >> i just want to follow up on that a little bit. you were standing behind some sort of stanchion? >> yes, sir. >> i know is -- i know it is hard to remember, but did you notice any flying debris? >> i heard something flying. i could not tell you what it was. but as i was standing there, at

something hit the deck. >> did something hit the stanchion a word standing behind? >> i heard -- did something hit the extension you were standing behind? >> i heard something, but i did not know what it was. >> could you tell the direction of the explosion, or location or direction of which way the explosion occurred or came from? >> the first one, as i can recall, because i was directly looking at the deck, it was up and towards the back. the second one i cannot recall. at that point i was already behind the stanchion. >> was there any kind of

particular/or colored light or anything that stuck in your mind -- any kind of particular flash or colored light or anything that stuck in your mind? >> the first explosion that i saw was yellowish, but after that it was a blue color. >> and the second one? >> i was not able to see. i was behind the post. >> thank you for your testimony. >> the good morning. you testified that you were involved in operations with eight supply boat. could you -- with a supply boat. could you testify what type of work you did? >> unloading equipment. >> can you tell us what you

unloaded? >> bayh host. >> did you participate in setting -- >> a hose. >> did you participate in setting that up? >> know. no. >> how would you characterize this particular arrangement? was it normal in your experience? >> a pump hand is the one who takes care of all that. as a roustabout, we just take down the hose, and that is a bit. >> do you recall when the mud transfer started? >> no. >> do you recall or have any recollection of when it may have ended? >> no. >> i have no further questions at this point.

>> good morning, sir. after you were protecting yourself from the debris behind the stanchion, did you see fire? >> yes. >> where did you run a first? >> to the front of the rig. >> you said that was a fire locker? >> yes. >> what were your duties and responsibilities once you got to the fire locker? >> to put on the fire suit and wait for the shipmate to come up and direct us. as well as the crane operators. >> i think you said you did something with your boots? >> i untied my boots and try to put on at the fire suit. i kind of remembered, or noticed, that there was nobody around. it made me get up and look around.

i notice that it was too big of a fire to fight. >> so you started getting dressed like you typically do on sundays for a fire drill? >> yes, sir. >> did you get both of your boots on? how far along and did you get? >> no, sir. i untied both of my boots and, like i said, i noticed no one was around. it was unusual. so, i looked around. after i tied my boots, i want to go see what the plan was. that is when they told me that we were trying to muster for evacuation. >> when you went to find out what the plan was, where did you go to find that out and coup d'etat to? do you recall? >> i talked -- and who did you

talk to? do you recall? >> i talked to another one of the crew members. he had a fire fighting and jacket on. i thought we were going to go down to the lifeboats. there is a stairwell that leads to that. the reason i talked to him is that i knew that a person had been in the starboard crane. not knowing what had happened to him, i was telling him that we should check on him. he had the fire suit on, or the jacket. he said, just go to the musters station, and he would check on him. >> what was your life but

number? >> boat number two. -- your lifeboat no.? >> boat number two. >> halliburton? >> no questions. >> dril-quip? >> no questions. >> that you, sir. >> is there any question that we did not ask you or any information relevant to this investigation that you would like to share at this time? >> no, sir. >> in the future, if we need you to testify, will you make yourself available? >> yes, sir.

>> thank you. you are dismissed. our next witness will be available at 12:00. at this time we will take a break. just to clarify, the break is 50 minutes.

>> live coverage of the coast guard's hearing in the explosion of the deepwater horizon oil rig. it appears that there is one more witness in the investigation, a manager from bp. it had been expected that this hearing would last all day. is it moving along quicker than expected. the results of that explosion are now in the 40th day in the gulf of mexico. you can watch a live video feed of the broken oil pipeline on our website. you can also use the c-span library to watch congressional hearings on this bill.

interior secretary kenneth salazar and homeland security secretary janet napolitano began a 50 minute break. there will be more live coverage when they resume. in the meantime, here is a presidential address. >> we begin at this memorial day by enjoying barbeques, kicking back, and spending time with people we care about. that is as it should be. i also hope, that as we do so, we will take some time to remember what memorial day is all about. it is a day to pay tribute to the men and women who wear the uniform of the united states of america. there are certain days that have been set aside to remember them. veterans day is one such day. on memorial day, we honor not just those who have worn the uniform, but the men and women

who have died in service, who have laid down their lives for their fellow citizens, who have given their last measure of devotion to protect the united states of america. these are the men and women i will be honoring this weekend, and i know many of you will be doing the same. america emerged from a cluster of colonies to become the most prosperous, a powerful nation on earth. it was through hard work and the character of our people, the continuity of innovators an entrepreneurs. we have inspired not only our people to protect our own union, but inspired others to protect theirs as well. from the very start, there was something more, a commitment to serve, to fight, and if necessary, to die, to preserve the american ideals that we cherish. it is what led a ragtag militia to face british soldiers at

lexington and concord, what led young men in a country divided half slave and half free, to take up arms to preserve the union. from the trenches of world war i to the battles of world war ii, that commitment, the willingness to lay down their lives so that we might inherit the blessings of this nation, is what we honor today. on this memorial day as on every day, we are called to honor the sacrifice with more than words. we're called to honor them with deeds. we are called to honor them by doing our part for loved ones, by making sure that the men and women serving this country around the world have the support they need to serve their mission and come home safely, by making sure that veterans have the care and assistance they need. in short, by serving all those

who have ever worn the uniform of this country and their families as well as they have served us. on april 25th, 1866, a year after the civil war ended, a group of women visited a cemetery in columbus, mississippi, and placed flowers by the graves of confederate soldiers. they noticed graze nearby of the union dead. no one had -- unnoticed graves nearby of the union dead. no one had placed flowers on them. they decided to go ahead and do so. a few years later, memorial day was established, to coincide with the time the flowers are in bloom. this weekend, as we celebrate memorial day, i asked you to hold all of our fallen heroes in your hearts, and if you can, a lay flowers on their graves.

>> i have the honor of representing the people of california. this week, republicans launched a new effort to return to the voice of the american people to the process of governing. over the last year we have all been reminded in town halls and on public squares, in every corner of this country, people have gathered and spoken out. they acted individually and independently. they're not all driven by any one issue, but their message was the same. washington needs to listen. for the last 18 months, democrats running washington has failed to listen to the american people. instead, they have pursued a partisan agenda that does not reflect the priorities of the american people. we are fed up with spending, taxes, bailouts, and the debt

that has been assigned to our kids and grandkids. it is time for americans to once again have role in driving agenda.ns' americans do not want an agenda imposed on them from washington. they don't want debate behind closed doors, which has happened far too often in the last 18 months. they want to let the sunshine in. americans are speaking out to give americans back a voice in washington. house republicans are ready to listen. as republicans, our principles are simple, economic freedom, a lower taxes, fiscal responsibility, protecting life, american values and the constitution. we believe in strong national security. we are have offered better solutions than the democrats in washington.

we appreciate that the democrats control washington, and any agenda must start with them. we are mobilizing people through the web as well as traditional town hall meetings throughout the nation over the coming weeks. central to america speaking out is an innovative new web form, where all citizens can submit their ideas for a new agenda, regardless of party affiliation, and whether we agree with them or not. here, all people can share priories from every corner of america, and the engage in a civil debate about our nation closer challenges, and how to solve them. -- our nation's challenges, and how to solve them. going forward, we will focus in on the priorities of the american people, and have a more accountable government that can

be used to address them. we're looking for solutions, and fighting for them right away. the american people are paying act -- are playing an active role in their future. we are committed to creating an agenda that reflects that. for too long, washington has not been ready to listen. we are ready to start a dialogue of ideas. log on and make your voice heard. thank you. >> alive picture from louisiana this morning where -- a live picture this morning from louisiana where we have been bringing you live coverage of the hearings into the explosion of the deepwater horizon oil rig. byy're being conducted interior secretary kenneth

salazar and homeland security secretary janet napolitano. if investigators find criminal misconduct during the course of this hearing, the coast guard will determine if the matter should be referred to the justice department for possible prosecution. live testimony will resume in about 40 minutes. until then, testimony from earlier today. >> raise your right hand so i can place you under oath. false testimony given to an

entity of the united states is punishable by fine or imprisonment. knowing this, do not swear the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? >> i do. >> you may be seated. >> before we begin, we just want to remind you that you are represented by transocean attorney. is that ok with you? >> yes. >> can you please state your name? >> my name is paul james meinhart iii. >> by him are you employed? >> transocean. >> what position do you currently hold with them? >> motorman.

>> how long have you been a motorman with them? >> three months. >> did you have any experience prior to this? >> i worked on another transocean rick prior to working on deepwater horizon. >> said you have about six months working with transocean? >> yes. >> did you have any special training for the job? >> prior to coming off shore, and worked as a diesel mechanic with a dealership. >> as a motorman on the deepwater horizon, warrior day- to-day operations and responsibilities? -- what were your day-to-day

operations and responsibilities? >> i was shadowing another mechanic, assisting as needed under the engineering staff. >> who was your supervisor? >> it changed from day to day. willie stoner and terry sullers. >> how long had you been on the rig prior to the explosion? >> four days. >> were you aware of any problems on the rig? >> no. >> could you give me a brief summary of your day on april 20th from the time you woke up until the explosion? >> i got up at approximately

5:30 a.m., got my daily pass from our first engineer, went and performed the daily rounds on the pumps, came back. at that time, some of the other crew were installing a cooling ps of piping. i went with them and installed -- a cooling piece of piping. i went with them and installed it. i went to isolate the equipment, tested and return it to service. fill out paperwork, but it signed -- it got it signed, came back and gathered everybody to isolate the equipment and test it. that is when the incident occurred.

>> where you located at the time of the incident? >> in the engine control room. >> was anybody else there with you? >> yes, three people. >> prior to the incident, did you hear any type of indication that something was going on? any lights or something blinking to make you aware of a problem? >> prior to the explosion, we had an alarm for combustible gas. that was the very first alarm. we overheard a transmission on the radio to disconnect been moved off the vessel 500 m. after the transmission, three to four more alarms came up. >> what type of alarm, visual,

audio? >> both. >> you just referenced that you had some type of communication. how long prior to the first explosion did that communication takes place? >> i perceived it to be 15 to 20 seconds. >> then how much longer was the second explosion after the first explosion? >> 10 to 15 seconds, i believe. >> was there any communication to the engine control room to perform a shutdown? >> no. >> did they have that capability? >> we had the capability of shutting down the engine, yes. >> did the bridge communicate to the control room to shut down the engine? >> we had both radios and

telephones. >> which engines were running at the time of the incident? >> 3 and 6. >> i know you said you had only been on the deepwater horizon for three months, but were you aware of any safety devices on the engine themselves? >> they had mechanical and electrical. >> who was responsible for doing preventative maintenance and inspection on those? >> i believe our first engineer. >> in the three months that you're out there, do recall any preventative maintenance or inspection on those devices? >> i recall doing a test and testing of the systems on one of the engines, yes. >> de remember which engine that was? >> not exactly, no. >> do you know what the settings

were for the over speed? >> not the exact settings, note. >> when the alarm sounds, does that shut power to the engines at all? >> the alarms notify us. the engines provide power to the rig over hydraulics, thrusters, for all of the equipment on the rig. if we shut down the engines, the rate has no power to perform any operations. -- the rig has no power to perform any operations. >> are there backup generators? >> yes. the emergency generator has to be manually started. >> have you ever seen mms or the coast guard on the rig? >> wii's. >> did an of those indivi

-- >> yes. >> did any of those individuals perform inspections while you were there? >> non- during the shift that i worked. >> can you tell me where you were during the explosions? >> the first explosion, and was standing port side with my back to the door. i got blown in. i believe that it came from the port side of the vessel from where we were at. >> and the second explosion? >> the second explosion, at that time i had just moved over, but i still had my back to the port side. there was another door coming from the center of the ricg.

during the second explosion, that door got blown open. >> do you know what exploded? >> no. >> de know what happens in an engine scenario when there -- do you know what happens in an engine scenario when there is a run away? >> depending on the extent, a bearing failure can occur on any of the rods which can cause the head to be blown off the engine. >> when you were in the control room, was there a presence of gas? >> and do not recall that. >> are you familiar with the term "rigorous savored -- "rig saver?" >> that is a valve on the engine that is supposed to close in the event of an over speed.

>> do have any indication that that device it activated? >> that would be on the sbc consoles. it is the main consoles that controls all the power and the generator systems. >> do you have any will control procedures in your role as a motorman? >> no. >> were you ever in any type of a well control scenario? >> not that i know of, no. >> if you were in a well control event, do you know what you would do as a motorman?

>> assist as needed, as directed. >> who would be directing you? >> the watch engineer or the first engineer. >> that is all of the questions i have, sir, thank you. >> i would like to follow up with a couple of questions. after the second explosion, i assume you made your way out of the engine control room. can you tell us what happened when you went outside? what did you see and where did you see it? >> as i was making my way out of the engine control room, i assisted someone else in getting out of the engine control room. we headed out the back onto the secondary life boat deck. there is a phone right outside

the engine control room on of the wall. at that time, he attempted to contact the bridge. the phones were dead. at that time, we knew that we needed to get to our primary lifeboat's stations. myself, willie, and brent made our way up the stairway to the deck to the port side of the vessel and moved onto the bridge. >> did you notice any damage? i know it was pretty confusing at the time. did you notice damage on the main deck area? >> on the main deck, i did not take a survey of any damage other than just observing our direction of travel to observe any obstructions. >> did you step over anything

that was blown down? >> there were bits of debris. >> did you notice any holes or missing rails? >> on the main deck, no. on the below main deck, up from the life deck, there are three or four steps down to a walkway. initially, i wanted to stay below main deck on the starboard side of the vessel, but the small steps going to the walkway or damaged -- were damaged. >> that was the rear of the vessel? >> yes. near the lifeboats? >> yes. >> i have no further questions. >> when you exited out of the building on to the lifeboat deck, where the life boats still intact? >> i do not recall taking a

survey of the lifeboats. i do not remember if they were there or if they were intact. my initial concern at the time it really was making the phone calls to the bridge. brent had a severe lacerations to his scalp. he was bleeding quite bad. my first thought was to assess his injury and try to see if there was anything i could do for him. >> sir, i have a few questions for you, specifically about the emergency generator you describe. on board the deepwater horizon, you indicated by your testimony that the emergency generator had to be manually started, it did not just go on automatically? >> the systems on the rig have primary generators running. in the event that the main generators trip off or over speed for whatever reason, the

system is designed to then start any other main generators that were not running at that time. >> is that you referred to as your emergency generator that you have to manually start? >> know. no. the damage to the system prevented the other generators from starting. >> what you referred to as the emergency generator requires manual starting? >> yes. >> would it be proper to characterize it as a standby generators, rather than an emergency generator? >> if you want. >> i am not trying to put words in your mouth, i'm just trying to distinguish between an emergency generator, which is

designed to automatically energize, as opposed to one that you have to go out and start. let me pass q a few questions about that auxiliary generator. did you -- let me ask you a few questions about that auxiliary generator. did you perform maintenance on it as part of your job? >> i did participate with the first engineer on running the generator on a weekly basis. >> from the time that you got on board the deepwater horizon, do you recall whether or not there was any maintenance on board that generator? >> no. >> do recall if there was any testing done on a that generator? >> i do not recall. i had not been on the rich enough days and that time. -- on the rig enough days at that time. >> you said that you tried to

start the of salary generator. do you recall that? >> yes. >> how did you try to start the auxiliary generator? >> it has a battery starter. it has a start button. the start button was switched on. we tried to start the generator, nothing happened. we were not sure if maybe we were not doing something right. there is an operating manual that we read through to verify that we were performing all of the steps correctly, and the generator still would not start. >> how many times did you attempt to start the generator? >> the generator was attempted to start several times, 546 *. >> based on your experience as a diesel -- five or six times.

>> based on your experience as a diesel mechanic, why did you think the generator would not start? >> it could not turn over. >> that is all of my questions at this time. >> you had made it back up to the bridge and ensure your buddies got up there and taken care of. where, from the bridge to the generator shaft, where is that located? how did you get down to that? >> the generator room is located on the main deck, on the port side behind the bridge. >> ok. thank you.

transocean? >> no questions. >> [inaudible] >> good morning. >> morning. >> did you say that you tried to start the generator that night? >> after the incident, when we needed power to possibly run the fire equipment, yes, we did try to started. >> when was that? when did you start to do that?

>> are you asking? >> time wise. >> time wise, after the initial blast, i cannot say exactly. i would say less than 10 minutes. >> had mr. mansfield been taken out of the engine control room? >> yes, sir. as i said, he was assisted to the bridge. >> did somebody direct you to try to start the generator? >> whenever i got up there at the time, i got up there, the electrician was up there, the captain stated that we need power to attempt to fight the fire. we informed them of the damage that had occurred on the vessel and that we were not going to be

able to attempt to get power on the main bridge. possible to possibly get emergency power from the backup generator. >> and then you tried to do that? >> myself, and two other people went and attempted to start the emergency generator. >> where did you have to go to do that? >> on the main deck on the port side of the vessel behind the bridge. >> in a fire and emergency, do any one of the three of you have assigned tasks other than that? >> the what engineer, the first engineer and the mechanical supervisor have assigned tasks. my assigned task is to assist as directed. >> do you know what the other

assigned tasks are? >> bayh are primarily is supposed to assemble in the -- they are primarily supposed to assemble in the engine control room and shut down any equipment or start any equipment as needed in whenever the situation is. -- whatever the situation is. >> de recall telling the captain that the attempt to fight -- do you recall telling the captain that the attempt to fight the fire would be a futile attempt? >> i do not recall that. >> do you recall saying that there would be a china man's chance to put the fire out? [inaudible]

is it possible that anyone on the deepwater horizon had the power to put that fire out? >> i cannot make that assumption. >> can you describe the capt. as far as his demeanor at that time? >> my opinion of the capt.'s demeanor is that he was very direct and organized in getting information from the crew that were in different parts of the vessel and then directing people as to what needed to be done. >> the panel -- actually, let me ask you. were you trained at all to

utilize the emergency shutdown buttons? >> myself, directly, no. >> or you ever personally trained on that vessel on how to somehow shutdown electrical power? >> electrical power? no. >> all of your training regarding power, either taking it off line or online, was to bring power back if it went down. is that correct? >> yes. >> were you ever trained or alerted to the fact that the ventilation into the ecr was such that if there was a gas leak on deck, the gas would come into the engine control room? were you told that?

>> i was not told that directly, no. >> was there any indication by the captain when you were sent to initiate the emergency generator system that there may be cast into the system, and that by doing so, you may actually cause an additional explosion? >> note. . >> did anybody say that? >> at the time, no. >> looking back, do understand the concept of that happening? >> yes, but at that time -- >> [inaudible] 5 understand.

-- i understand. was there a corresponding first engineer on the other ship? >> yes. >> who were they? >> i do not know his exact name. >> i believe that on the ship that i did not work on, that person would of been a jerry i. six -- would have been jerry isaacs. >> i understand that you're under oath, and i do not want you to guess. do you not -- do you know for sure that there was a first engineer, a counterpart to mr. mansfield? >> yes. >> but you do not know his name?

>> as i said, i did not work on a dais. i had not been on the the vessel -- i did not work on days . i had not been on the vessel that long. i do not know what that individual's name was. >> [unintelligible] is that possible? >> objection. anything is possible. he knows that. he is free to testify, but i think we are getting very far afield here. >> i am trying to determine if he had a license or was working to get the license. >> [unintelligible] >> thank you very much. do you recall hearing either

engine and three or six revving up in power? >> yes. >> do you know what they are set to run at? >> i believe the normal running speed is 780. >> how about 720? >> ok. >> can you tell me what they revved up to? >> i do not know. >> did you have the ability to determine that? >> the ability to monitor the engine rpm is possible, yes. >> you may have answered this. do you recall if everything function properly on engine 3? >> i do not know for sure. >> engine 6? >> i do not know for sure. >> is your belief that the

reason you went dark because of the frequency trip on engine at three or six? >> i do not know the exact cause of going dark. >> but the engines never stops running before the explosion, correct? >> no. >> in other words, they were winding up when the explosion occurred? >> yes. >> thank you so much. >> bros is, sir. bp? >> no questions. >> halliburton? >> no questions. >> dril-quip? >> no questions. >> weatherford? >> no questions.

>> just to follow up, or the engine to winding up or were they winding down? >> i believe that they were winding up. >> how long have you been a diesel mechanic? >> including my onshore time and this, about six years. >> it gas is going into the turbo, up would engines revved up or read it down? >> they wouldn't rev up because of the engine receiving an and regulate -- they would rev up because of the engine receiving an unregulated source of fuel.

>> what would have to be damaged for the other primary generator to have come on line? >> would have to be the damage? >> if we had a no. 3 and #6 online, what would have been damaged for those engines not to come up? >> i do not believe that at the time that the rig went dark -- there is always a delay in the equipment registering the fact that the equipment has failed and that we are in the dark and that you have to go through a sequence to start the engines, and that there was not enough time between the rig going dark and the first explosion. >> so this was an electrical? >> it is an electrically

controlled by the consul. >> so if the consul was damaged -- the console was damaged, the engine would not come on? >> yes. >> and the generators be shut down from the bridge or any -- ken the generators be shutdown from the bridge -- can the generators be shut down from the bridge or any other location? if the person on the bridge felt that the engines should be stopped short of ignition, they could have done that? >> at the time, the engine control room was in control of the equipment. we would have had primary control of the equipment. the bridge could have taken control, but the amount of

elapsed time and the other issues that the bridge was dealing with, i did not know. >> i am trying to understand if you have primary control down there, if the bridge could have taken control and shut them down themselves. at no time did the bridge personnel and for new that they were taking control? >> as i stated, i do not believe that there was enough the last time to perform that task -- enough elapsed time to perform that task. theiven that you're on rigor for three months, do the terms think and start come to mind? >> yes. >> can you explain what those

are? >> think is a process of planning and executing a task. >> thank you for coming here this morning to testify. are there any questions we did not ask you or any other information relevant to this investigation that you would like to offer? >> i do not believe i have any. >> in the future if we need you to come back to provide additional an affirmation, william make yourself available -- additional information, will you make yourself available? >> ps. >> -- yes. >> we will take a break and come back in 10 minutes.

>> that was testimony from this morning in the coast guard's hearing on the explosion of the deepwater horizon oil rig. investigators are expected to return shortly to hear from the final witness of the day, a manager from bp who is going to offer testimony by phone. that is a couple of minutes away. with the oil spill now in its 40th day, we have an update on the work in the gulf of mexico from this morning's "washington journal." good morning. guest: good morning. how are you? host: good. thank you so much for joining us. guest: they're trying by pumping at a very high rate of

velocity, drilling fluid into the well. right now it's not been successful, i don't think. they were cautiously optimistic. yesterday they changed their tune slightly and said that ey were going to keep trying until either they were successful or they could see that they were not going to be successful. we did see the chief executive talking yesterday. what is their comment to residents in the gulf area? guest: i don't thinkhey're speaking too much to the residents. i was in grand isle the last couple of days, and people down there are just so angry and frustrated. there's little exchange of conversation on the b.p. person in that area was wearing a local fireman t-shirt as opposed to the b.p. logo on his

shirt. host: talk to us about the president's visit to the gulf region. tell us what he did down there and who was on hand. guest: well, he first visited port, which also has oil come onshore, and he met with local leaders there. he had a long meeting. he was an hour and a half late for a news conference with reporters beuse he was behind closed doors with leaders. they've been very hard hit with oil. apparently he chewed out billy, who's been very vocal about what's gone right, what's gone wrong. but i think it was well received. i do. i think this visit was well received. host: we saw images of him actually picking up a tar ball from the sandy shores there. guest: i think the more

connection was made with th local leaders who have been very, very frustrated and upset, whether they were getting enough boom which corrals the oil and keeps it off shore. they've been frustrated with how many people they're getting to clean up the beaches, and i think he had a long meeting with them, and i think it helped calm him down. the president promised to put three times the man power on the beach whenever oil rolls in . he also promised that whatever materials they needed they would get. can you talk to us about what officials are hearing on the rig? guest: i've beenostly vering top kill and what's going on in grand isle. i'm sorry. i just don't know what part. host: one thing maybe you can reflect on us.

as the news comes down to the area you're in, how are local people reacting? guest: well, they're upset. they think b.p. was taking shortcuts to make more money. they see b.p. as a very greedy compan they're very angry, because thisas happened at the worst time possible. it'she beginning of the fishing season, the beginning of the tour season is may, and it runs through november. there's big fishing tournaments that have been cancelled this weekend. i was down in grand isle wednesday and thursday. there's a marina there with 65 boat slips in it. there was three boats in the slips, and two of those were owned by the marina. they're devastated. this is killing their season. host: what are you going to be watching now in the next 24 hours or so? guest: i'll be watching weather top kill is successful. i think it's very shaky right now. i think they've had some successes with it. i mean, it's a simple premise. you shoot something into the well thas heavier and faster than the oil leaking out.

you try to push it back down into the well. once you get that to occur, then they're going to put a cement plug in it and try to plug it up permanently, bu it's proven to be difficult. i mean, it's a mile below the surface of the water. the pressure down there is enormous. it's enormous, and it's all about the pressure. host: the president has tried to emphasize that many beaches in the gulf are open for business. it's not like the entire area is shut down in an attempt to get tourism going there. have you gotten a sense from beaches that are not yet affected if they're seeing a drop in visitors? guest: yes, they are. they're getting cancellations. people are staying away. they're very, very worried about it. i don't know if you know about this, a quarter of the waters have been closed to fishing. when people hear those kind of things, they're staying away.

we've been bringing you live testimony from a manager from b.p. who is apparently going to offer his testimony by phone. >> and today we have four members, include jason matthews, and my cochairman, and on my right is captain ross whitley, and also our reporter, rock west. also in the audience shall we have representative of various parties' interest.

i would like for you to raise your right hand so i can place you under oath. before a statement given to the united states punishable by fines and/or imprisonment under 18usc1001, do you solemnly swear that the testimony you're about to give be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> i do. >> thank you, sir. >> captain, this is eddie kastain. i think the record will reflect that you can't see who is on this end. i'm his attorney and sitting next to him. >> thank you. i appreciate that. is there a coast guard representative on the other end of the line? >> yes, i'm lee willis from port arthur. >> will you confirm that on the other line we have mr. simms and mr. gaston in a room with you only? >> captain, we dox we have mr. simms, mr. kastang and

philip chin, a b.p. lawyer. >> mr. simms, do you have earn pl lawyer or are these lawyers representing b.p.? >> no, only eddie ksatang is representing him personally. >> thank you sir. at this time, members may begin questioning. >> mr. simms, for the record, could you please state your name and spell your last? >> david simms, sims. >> could the questioner identify himself since we can't identify who is at table? >> yes, sir, jason matthews, mms. >> mr. sims, by whom are you employed? >> b.p. >> and what is your current position with them? >> i am the operation's manager for the relief well-being drills

by the transocean development driller 3. >> what is your normal day-to-day relief operations prior to this incident? >> previous to this, it was drilling operations manager for exploration and appraisal drilling in the deepwater gulf of mexico. >> how long you have been with b.p.? >> i've been with b.p. company since 1982 and b.p. solely or officially since 2000. >> what is your educational background, sir? >> bachelor of science and mechanical engineering. >> from where? >> texas a&m university. how long were you the drilling operations manager, sir? >> i was in that position for

approximately three weeks prior to the event in question. >> and what were you doing prior to those three weeks? >> i was the engineering team leader in the exploration and appraisal drilling group. >> thank you. can you please briefly describe your job responsibilities at both the engineering team leader and as the drilling operations manager, sir? >> as engineering team leader, my primary responsibility was to develop well plans for wells that we were going to be drilling with primarily with the

deepwater horizon. >> as an office ops manager, operations manager, my role changed to execution of expedition and appraisal wells in the gulf deepwater gulf of mexico. >> did you specifically work on the mississippi canyon 252 well, sir, as engineer team leader? >> i was engineering team leader -- engineering plan for that well was developed. >> were there any problems on the well, sir, prior to your arrival on the 20th? >> are you are speaking of prior to my arrival on the rig on the 20th? >> i would say from around march

up until april 20th. >> i'm sorry. prior to my job as operations manager? >> no, no. as operations -- i'm sorry. as operations manager, were you made aware of any problems of the mississippi canyon 252 well? >> i was aware of drilling problems that had occurred up to that point, yes. >> and what were those problems, sir? >> we had had some long circulation problems. we had taken a kick. >> the first part of the well was drilled by ocean marianas and that rig had been damaged in

a hurricane and had to be removed from the location and horizon came back in to resume drilling. >> >> when were you scheduled to go out to the deepwater horizon? >> you are referring to -- >> the scheduled trip on the 20th. >> the trip was scheduled to go on the 20th and return on the 2321st. >> when did you make the plans to travel on the 20th? >> i would say at least a week before, if not longer. >> and what was the inat the present time of -- and what was the intent of that trip, sir? >> that trip was a scheduled

trip for leadership to visit the horizon and i can't remember the other rig, but we have monthly scheduled trip that goes to two different rigs. it's a scheduled helicopter flight devoted to leadership and with houston or b.p. and get on that flight. the purpose of that visit is to reacquaint personnel with management, or management to do safety audits, conduct safety audits, talk about performance,

talk about plans to reinforce messages, to a variety of things like that. >> was that your first scheduled trip like that since you were only in that position for three weeks, sir? >> this was the first scheduled trip that i had made in that capacity, yes. >> i think i heard you said you were going to reinforce messages, is that correct? >> in a broad sense, that is one of the reasons for those visits is for leadership to reinforce messages that are delivered, goals that both b.p. and trance

ocean -- and transocean have. and who was on that helicopter with you, sir, on the 20th? >> myself, pat o'brien, v.p. of d&c in the gulf of mexico. rudolf winslow with transocean, buddy tray happen with transocean. audi hear you correctly that you took the flight out of houston? >> i'm sorry, did you say fly out of houston? >> yes, sir. i think you said you had a specifically helicopter allocated to you or anybody from transocean to make the flight from houston. >> those trips were out of our shore base in homa. the reference to houston was that it was generally for office leadership. >> understood. >> normally, who from b.p. goes

on such trips to discuss safety audits and performance plans? >> normally it is a wide range of leadership from wells team leaders up through vice presidents. >> is it typical for mr. o'brien to go out there? >> it would be typical for his position. he had not been in that job very long, and so this was his first trip, his personally first trip to the horizon, but other directors in b.p. went on those trips. >> you may not know this, but do you know when he actually took over his position as vice president of drilling completion

? >> it was early, very early in '10 or late '09. >> do you know who was in that position prior to him? >> that would have been kevin lacy. >> lacy? >> lacy. >> lacy. >> did mr. lacy frequent the deep water horizon in that capacity? >> i don't recall a trip that mr. lacy made to the horizon. >> ok. once you got to the deepwater horizon on the 20th, can you walk me through what time you arrived and up to the incident? >> we arrived about 2:30 p.m.

i went to speak briefly with the well site leader. >> who was the well site leader, sir? >> bob caluzza. i spoke with him for a few minutes. i went to speak to jimmy herald, the oim for a while. i went and got my room assignment, and took my gear to my room, spent some time there. i made notes for myself. i wept back upstairs to the well site leader's office. mr. o'brien was there. he had completed his safety orientation at the rig, and we

were aassembled there to go on a tour of the rig. we toured the rig for about two hours. we had had dinner at about 6:00. mr. winslow had set up a meetingship for the leadership. it wasn't a mandatory meeting but anyone that was available could visit with those who had arrived on the helicopter that day and to talk about a variety

of things. there was no set agenda. >> there was no set agenda prior to arrival? >> theres was no set agenda for that meeting. we had some things that we wanted to talk about, but it was -- other than those things, we were just there to visit with leadership to talk about any issues they had or visit about the things that we wanted to talk about. >> and what did you all want to talk about, sir? >> we have drop dodgics, focused on drop dodgics as well as transoceans to talk about drop dodgics program and how things

were working. we wanted to visit about rig maintenance programs. we had a few safety-related issues that we were going to touch on, some learning that had come from events on both the horizon and other rigs that we wanted to make sure that reached the horizon and see what they were doing about those, if they incorporated those learnings. we wanted to talk about control of work, being it was pat's first trip to the horizon, i was going to include a bit of

discussion about horizon he's performance in the past, and some just comments about what made the horizon a good are rig, and we would also then just leave it up to -- don had a few things i think he wanted to talk about, and see where the conversation went. >> ok. what time was that meeting? you said you had dinner at 1800 hours, and then you went directly to that meeting? >> yes, sir. don had set that up for a few minutes before 7:00 was the intended commencement of that meeting. >> ok. following that meeting, what transpired? >> that meeting went until just before 9:00. we broke up the meeting.

pat and i headed down the hall to the well site leader's office and don winslow eventually followed us and asked if we wanted to go to the bridge. we had not made it to the bridge on our tour yet, and so we did. we went up to the bridge, and talked to the marine crew up there, a wide range of conversations, talked about station keeping and just all of the instruments on the bridge. it's kind of an impressive place if you hadn't been there, lots of screens, lots of technology. we had a long, nice visit there,

and we also got a chance to work with a dynamic positioning simulator that they have up there used for training and demonstration purposes, mainly to do an idea of how difficult it is to remain on station, and in a manual sense of trying to keep it there with a joystick yourself, controls on the way the system works on the ship and to do that effortlessly. and so during that time we were there is when the event began. >> and what happened, sir?

what did you notice? who did you see? can you take me up to the point of when you were able to evacuate the rig? >> the first indication of anything out of the ordinary was a vibration that was felt, a high frequency vibration that the captain immediately was alerted to, and asked kind of rhetorically, what is that? is something up against us? presumably, you know, a boat or something like that. you can imagine maybe bumped up against next to us. that lasted for a few seconds, and then theres was a hissing,

spewing sound like you could imagine a gas or liquid escaping at high pressure in the direction of the rig floor, as best i could tell. the only windows or the windows in the bridge -- the only wall without windows are in the direction of the rig floor. after that, in the time of just a few seconds it seemed like, captain looked out the port door at the bridge and i could see the bagston, which was next to us, and it looked like

everything was covered with some kind of liquid, presumably mud. what i could see of the rig looked like the boat had some on it, and it was fairly calm, it seemed like at that moment. i have a recollection of the boat moving slowly away from the rig at that point. the captain closed the door and i remember him saying, don't go out there. at that point, or very close to that point, i recall hearing a relatively small explosion or a boom towards the rig floor. the scene in the bridge was fairly excited, and shortly

after that, not very many seconds, was a much louder explosion, and all of the power went out at that point. the lights, no electronics, no screens. i remember looking at the eop panel and i saw one -- i saw green and yellow lights but also one red light. >> were there three green? >> all the lights i saw were green and yellow on the panel. it was dark over there, so it was difficult to read, for me to

read anything. in fact, i was too far away to read anything, but i did see one red light up towards the top of that panel, which i assumed to be and preventer high up on the panel stack. i could not swear to that, but that's what it looked like, and people started coming in from outside and from up. there's an interior access to the bridge from the linen quarters. people came up from there.

i remember that one of the b.p. officers was calling mayday in the radio. i remember jimmy harrell of oim came n i believe he came in from the starboard side of the bridge, from the outside. i couldn't swear to that, but that's where i saw him first, in that direction. and i asked jimmy if the well was shut in, and he had a -- he was kind of confused looking at that moment, but just a split second he kind of shook that off and immediately headed over toward the panel, the preventer panel.

i don't have a continuous picture in my mind of him walking all the way over there and doing something, but i remember at some point, i'm not 100% certain if it was right then or not, but i do recall seeing all red lights in addition to other lights on the panel. i can't remember if i said should we eds or if someone else said should we eds, again, sort of a general question to the room, and i remember that the captain seemed to hesitate for a moment and then seemed to agree that that was the thing to do. the next thing i remember is very distinctly him saying "eds

at 21:56." at some point i found the light in the bridge at this point is really just from the flames that were north toward the rig and someone looked out the port door and said they could see someone in the water. i remember looking over, kind of stuck my head out and looked in the direction everyone else was looking. i did see someone swimming in the water. the bangston moved further away but still had lights shining in our direction. there was discussion about, not

a lot, but about going to the lifeboats. there wasn't immediate consensus to do that, but then some short time later, i remember looking at pat and pat's comment was, ok, let's go. it seemed like that was how everyone was headed. i followed him out the starboard door, and we went down a couple of flights of stairs down to the area where the lifeboats were and fairly ord hely -- fairly orderly down there, and pat and i, i believe, were among the last to get in one of the

lifeboats, and then the the decision was made there to lower the boat, close the door and we lowered the boat down and that went well, and we drove away from the rig. it took a while to get to the banks and get everybody off. >> that's excellent. thanks a lot. upon arrival earlier, you said you went and spoke with mr. caluzza when you got to the rig. you can please tell me what you discussed? >> we were talking about what we were doing, and he said we were getting lined up for negative

tests, and i believe his words were, having a little trouble getting lined up but it's no big deal, and we then proceeded to talk about a whole lot of other things. i can't recall, mostly were arco days in in days, no more talk about business. >> then you proceeded then to go talk to mr. harrell. what did you talk to mr. harrell about? >> went to talk to jimmy and just as some general socializing. i hadn't seen him in about five months and he showed me their

2010 goals and some of their performance indicators. he had a new tracking chart that he was putting together, talked about that for a while. briefly spoke to randy ezell, senior tool pusher. i believe i stopped in the galley for something to drink. then i went to find my bags and get my room assignment. >> were you aware of any problems with the negative test, sir? >> no. >> were you aware that they ran a second negative test? >> at the time, no. >> when you had your meeting at

around 1900 hours, was there any discussion at all about the negative test? >> there was no discussion at that time. don ladrain, our nighttime well site leader, came to me while we were eating in the galley and asked if i wanted him to attend the 7:00 meeting, and i told him no, we're not rolling out any new material, nothing that he probably hadn't heard, and that it was more important for him to be out on the rig. he seemed happy with that, and

that's what i recall of that conversation. >> you also say that you were discussing maintenance between wells. what type of maintenance were you going to be doing to the deepwater horizon? >> i think i said that we talked about a rig maintenance plan and i don't recall any specific maintenance that we were discussing. it was more of a plan that transocean was implementing a little bit of a new strategy around preventive maintenance and that played into buddy tray happen's visit -- buddy trahan's

visit and the title performance manager assets, a lot of his job related to the asset or the rig equipment. maintenance is one of those things. >> do you know what the deepwater estimates were in 252? >> you cut out. >> sorry. did you know where the deepwater horizon was going after mississippi canyon 252? >> ok. the plan that i recall was to go to a well that we called nile, the prospect was that it was a sub c well that we were going to plug and abandon? >> was that in alaska?

>> it could be. i honestly don't recall the ocs number. >> do you know when that rig was supposed to arrive on ocs-14? >> whenever it got finished from nacondo. >> do you know when b.p. is submitted an application as to what date they would begin operations on ocs-14? >> i don't know the date, no, i do not know. >> i have no further questions. >> >> no questions at this time. >> good afternoon. this is ross wheatley. i'm with the coast guard and i have a few questions for clarification, if you could. you indicated during --

>> would you say your name again, please? >> ross wheatley. >> thank you. >> yes, sir. as i recall your name correctly, you indicated that at ap prox approximately 9:00, a group of the v.i.p.'s went up to the bridge, is that correct? >> i hesitate to call myself a v.i.p. but i was there with pat o'brien and don winslow, transocean, and the catch captain of the vessel and several other of the marine department were there. >> ok. and while you were on the bridge, you indicated that some of the personnel participated in use of the simulator, is that correct? >> that is correct. >> whos was given the instruction on how to use the simulator? >> the joy joystick has ocean

conditions programmed in that exert forces on a simulated picture of the rig and try to force it off location and use a joystick to try to keep it within a watch circle. >> was the captain participating in this exercise? i don't recall that he participated in that. i believe it was another of the marine crew who would program the conditions and start the simulation. it was very, very easy for them

to do. you do it in a matter of a minute or less, and then anyone could then work with the simulator. >> was the captain observing what was going on? >> the captain was observing everything that was going on in the bridge. i wasn't watching him the entire time, nor was i talking to him the whole time, but i know that he wasn't standing there right next to me or pat when we were at the simulator. >> do you recall which members of your party participated in using the simulator? >> i tried it once. i know that pat tried it. i couldn't say for sure if anyone else did.

>> in your estimation, how much time was spent by members of your party in the instruction and participation in the simulator? >> ten minutes. 15, max. >> was that per person or total participation by all the members? >> that is total participation. >> at the time that you indicated the incident began, was anybody utilizing the simulator? >> i can't say that i know. i wasn't, so i really wasn't paying attention to what was going on at the simulator. i know that the captain was not

at the simulator because i remember where he was standing when we first heard the -- felt the vibration, he was standing up close to the front of the bridge looking at some screen up in the front, towards the front of the bridge. >> sir, if i recall your earlier testimony, you indicated that part of your trip out to the deepwater horizon on this occasion was to conduct safety audits, is that correct? >> that is correct. if it presents itself, that's one of the things that we would do. >> on this particular occasion, did you conduct any safety audits, and if so, what type?

>> we went to an area aft of the aft deck of the rig where a riser would be laid down. if a riser was not in use, we would talk about an incident on another rig to talk about how if that same situation could happen on the horizon, and if, you know, what the differences were, if they had learned or had adopted any learnings from that incident. we went out to look at the -- there is a thing called a skate

that moves pipe from that area up to the rig floor and back, and there's an area underneath it, kind of a bay underneath. it was the scene of an incident that had happened on another rig just a few days or a week before our visit, and we went to that area to see, again, how the horizon would be different or similar to this other rig, and again, took to test whether that -- learnings from that incident had been communicated and how the horizon had dealt

with those learnings. >> sir, you mentioned one of the areas you discussed was the skate and that incident. could you tell me what the incident was and what the lessons learned were? >> well, the incident, it was a high hydraulic line that was leaking in that area on the other rig and one of the drilling contractor personnel had stepped down into that area with materials to clean up the leak, and lost his footing, and catching himself, he had, i believe, hurt his shoulder. the learnings from that were around, as we almost always find

learnings are around hazard recognition, making sure that you think about where you're going to step or where you're going to put your hand. we recognize that access to that area was -- could bism improved -- could be improved. again, there are investigations that are led by transocean, and b.p. participates sometimes in these. we embrace the learnings and try to make sure that those learnings get passed from rig to rig, but those were a couple of the learnings. we went to the horizon to look and see if those same -- if the same learnings about non-slip

material would apply, whether access to the area was the same. in fact, on the horizon, it was a little bit deeper. skate, a little more difficult to get into. we discussed what transocean was going to do relative to the event of the incident. >> you mentioned that this was part of your safety audit. who all was participating in this safety audit besides yourself? >> well, pretty much the group that was walking around, myself and pat o'brien, buddy trahan, don winslow, jimmy harrell, and

i can't recall with 100% certainty that the other folks that were with us. i think in total, we were seven or eight. >> now, it's our understanding that you have a safety measure program in place, is that correct, sir? >> transocean has a safety management system that is followed on the rig. >> now, you mentioned that there is a number of lessons learned from these prior incidents and now you say there were others on other occasions. how are the lessons learned communicated to the crew members onboard a rig such as the

deepwater horizon and how is it validated to ensure that those lessons learned are being incorporated for all safety culture in the future? >> well, that is the challenge that we are recalls -- that we are always trying to improve. transocean, when they have an event, an incident, have their own internal communication methods that share learnings, and then any actions from as a result of investigations or analyses of events, we, b. p, will also share with trance owe transhe ocean, learnings that

happened at other b.p. operations at different places that we think are property nent or relevant and we will share those a variety of ways with transhe he owe trance ocean who would then pass along learnings to the crew. >> >> do you utilize drill floor members to address the safety lessons passed to the leadership of the rigor actually being put in place and that the crew members are raw wear of those and enforcing those? oo. >> to the extent that we can do that without interrupting anything, we do that.

there is no forced participation, i guess, is the best way to describe it in our walk arounds. if we happen upon someone who appears to be doing something ex-extremely critical, we might take that opportunity to have a discussion with them, but otherwise we generally try to be -- we don't cross any barrier tapes, and we don't interfere, for lack of a better word. >> i guess my question is a little more directed towards the practice and execution of your audit plan.

is interviews of crew members part of your audit plan to determine how safety measures are being iments plemented? >> in a general sense, that would be a method of doing that. i can tell you that i do not recall on this trip having an opportunity to do that with anyone other than the group that we that was walking around with us, so any questions that i had or pat had were answered by one of our party rather than someone else. >> thank you, sir. i have no further questions, but i'm sure other members do. >> hello, mr. 6:00s.

i'm lieutenant robert butts. united states coat coast guard. >> it seems like you have are coming in broken. you can change mics or move closer to a mic? >> sure. sure, how is now? >> how is that? >> better. >> ok, thank you. >> >> mr. sims, in discussion over the last couple of days, i have heard the visit from corporate as a v.i.p. visit, and even a dignitary visit. does that seem surprising to you? >> we need a clearer one. >> you're coming in very broken. it is coming in and out. if you could, change mics. >> it's a little scratchy.

>> how is this? >> try it. >> try that. >> is it clear now? >> it's working now, but what happens is when you start talking, it sometimes goes in and out and we can only hear parts of the conversation. >> my wife says that, too. >> mr. sims, over the last couple of days, we have said the characterization of your visit was a v.i.p. visit or dignitary visit. does that surprise you? >> it surprises me, but i can understand possibly how that might get characterized by folks on the rig. it was not advertised as such. there was no agenda sent out ahead of time, and so i can't

say anything other than what i know, which was just a routine scheduled trip. >> yes, sir. i understand that. from your perspective, i would imagine that that's exactly how you would think of it, but from the perspective on the rig, the guys that are actually doing the work. i kind of characterize that as myself being in my unit and an admiral coming down to visit with us. i had kind of asked one of the gentlemen the other day as you were going through your tour. he had commented -- i don't want to go back through the record, but he had commented that there was a discussion and he was talking with a gentleman, and due to the tour -- >> sir, can i interrupt just a second? is it possible we could hang up and try to call again? i don't know if this line is

broken or what's happening, but it's very difficult. >> maybe you could use somebody else's mic. >> the first three questioners were fine. how's that? >> that's a lot better. >> that's great. ok. >> the visit, the tour of the rig. while going across the drill floor, one of the gentleman said or was confronted about a situation. we won't go into that, but he said in hindsight if the tour wasn't going on, the gentleman would have stayed with the crew on the drill rig. i just wanted you to recognize that the visit did have some impact on the way that folks were actually doing their jobs. you had said that you went to

reinforce goals. was that b.p.'s goals or were those goals that the rig had set on themselves? >> that would besn4y maybe a characterization of what we were doing. for instance, we had goals to reduce hand injuries, and we and transocean together had a hand injury prevention program that we were -- that was going on. dropped objects was another. >> yes, sir. i wrote what you had said were the goals. from your perspective, they were company goals that were just being refreshed?

>> they were -- yeah. >> that's good enough. i wanted to make sure because usually when i'm refreshing goals, that means i potentially missed a goal and someone was reminding me of a goal. i just wanted to touch on that. now, methods of reinforcement. was the corporate office providing any recognition of the day? were you identifying any persons onboard that did something above their normal job or any of those other things? >> we, again, didn't have that as an objective for the trip, but during the meeting from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. we talked about a number ofhi