"Whistleblower Sues to Stop Another BP Rig From Operating"

"A whistleblower filed a lawsuit [Monday] to force the federal government to halt operations at another massive BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, alleging that BP never reviewed critical engineering designs for the operation and is therefore risking another catastrophic accident that could 'dwarf' the company's Deepwater Horizon spill.

The allegations about BP's Atlantis platform were first made last year, but they were laid out in fresh detail in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Houston against Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the Minerals and Management Service, the agency responsible for regulating offshore drilling in the Gulf.

The whistleblower is Kenneth Abbott, a former project control supervisor contracted by BP who also gave an interview to '60 Minutes' on Sunday night."

Abrahm Lustgarten reports for ProPublica May 17, 2010.

See Also:

"U.S. Probes Another BP Rig, Seeks MMS Shakeup" (Reuters)