BP Oil Spill Disaster Hearings Continue in Houston, Texas

The Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement have continued hearings on the BP Oil Spill Disaster at the Hilton hotel across from the Houston Hobby Airport. The hearings will last all week. BP and Transocean employees are scheduled to testify this week. The previous hearings were in a New Orleans suburb, but for technical reasons involving jurisdiction and subpoenas, the government decided to relocate to Houston.

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The federal investigators are not looking to bring charges, but they will write a report, with safety recommendations, at the end of their inquiry. The witnesses are sworn in, and they are questioned for hours at a stretch. The testimony could become material for the hundreds of lawsuits that have been filed. The Justice Department is separately conducting a criminal probe. (WashPost, 8/223/2010)