The problem was that the cap cost $500,000.00 to install and was recommended by government regulations. (West, 2010) This significant, because it show a track record of the company knowingly putting its overall bottom line before safety or the environment. When you consider the fact that the company is making $93 million a day, this shows a lack of ethics on the part of managers and the company itself. (West, 2010) The cost to install the cap was: a small short-term investment that the company could afford. However, because it would cut into their profit margins and was not required; meant that the company would knowingly leave it out of the design. This would allow the spill to become even worse, as engineers and scientists have been struggling for weeks to shut it down.
Clearly, the lack of ethics that was used by executives from BP, during the years before the Deep Water Horizon explosion on April 20th would help to make the current oil spill worse. Where, managers and executives would knowingly violate various safety as well as environmental standards over the years. Evidence of this, can be seen with the fact that the company has paid over $520 million in fines during the last five years. This...
In case of the Deep Water Horizon explosion, this would lead to the company not installing an acoustic trigger, to shut off the well in the event of an explosion. This was because it would eat into the company's profits, even though the installation would not have affected them. As a result, the actions that the company took in years before the explosion; would show how the lack of ethics would contribute to the current disaster. Therefore, one could easily infer that the lack of ethics could cost the company trillions of dollars in liabilities before this is over.
Bibliography
Blostead, E. (2010). BP's Oil Spill Caused by Fed's Dangerous Culture of Permissiveness. Retrieved July 19, 2010 from Miami Herald website: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/20/1739429/bps-oil-spill-caused-by-feds-dangerous.html
West, L (2010). 10 Things You Need to Know about the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill. Retrieved July 19, 2010 from About.com website: http://environment.about.com/od/environmentalevents/tp/10-Things-You-Need-To-Know-About-The-Deepwater-Horizon-Oil-Spill.htm
