Investigators took evidence yesterday as the first of the hearings into the Deepwater Horizon oil rig accident took place. As oil continues to leak into the Gulf of Mexico and to come ashore in sensitive wildlife habitats, survivors of the fire and subsequent explosion that sank the rig related what happened.

Workers “leaped eight stories into the sea” (LA Times) as the Deepwater Horizon caught fire. The captain of a boat tending the rig reported that drilling mud rained down from the sky and there was an extended hiss of escaping gas shortly before the fire started (Washington Post).

The inquiries are also looking at just what went wrong. McClatchy Newspapers reports:

Tim Probert, an executive with Halliburton, the subcontractor responsible for placing a cement plug in the well, told senators in Washington, DC, that the dense drilling fluid had been pulled from the drilling tube and replaced with much lighter seawater before a cement plug was set to block gas and oil from coming up the pipeline. Normally, the procedure would have been to place the plug, then switch out the drilling fluid for seawater.

The finger pointing has also started. CNN notes that the chair of a BP subsidiary told a Senate hearing that rig owner Transocean was responsible for the rig’s operation, but Transocean says the cementing of the well was the responsibility of BP and Halliburton.

“Without a failure of one of those elements, the explosion could not have occurred,” says Transcoean CEO Steven Newman.

More Deepwater News

The US government is concerned about whether enough protective boom is being provided to adequately defend the US Gulf Coast shoreline from a massive oil spill, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said on Tuesday.

– Reuters

Workers aboard an exploding offshore drilling platform were told to sign statements denying they were hurt or witnessed the blast that rocked the rig, killed 11 and spewed millions of gallons of oil into the ocean, their attorneys said Tuesday.

– AP

Swiss-based Transocean Ltd (RIGN.S) (RIG.N) denied allegations late Tuesday that its crew members were asked to sign waivers relating to damage claims soon after its deep water rig exploded off the U.S. gulf coast.

– Reuters

Image: US Air Force plane spraying dispersant chemicals into the Gulf of Mexico on 5 May / US Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Adrian Cadiz.