BP: More Blowout Preventer Testing Needed

Brandon ComeauxPublished: March 8, 2011

GULF OF MEXICO: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been released by U.S. Military prior to transmission.) In this handout image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, the damaged blow out preventer along with the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) cap from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that caused the massive oil spill is extracted and put aboard the vessel Q4000 on September 4, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. The 50-foot, 300-ton preventer was removed and replaced on the well head by a newly tested preventer. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Thomas M. Blue/U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The company at the center of the Gulf oil spill wants access to a key piece of evidence in the federal investigation so it can do additional testing it says a government contractor has refused to do.

BP says in court papers filed Tuesday that further testing of the failed blowout preventer will help determine why it didn't work as intended during the April 20

rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana. A federal judge did not immediately rule.

BP's request follows the U.S. Chemical Safety Board's objection to the government's decision to halt testing of the blowout preventer last Friday.

The board says there may have been a fundamental safety design problem with the pods that controlled the massive device, and it asked that more testing be done to confirm that.

Filed Under: BP, BP Oil Spill, U.S. Chemical Safety Board

Categories: National News, State News