Markey hits spill commission finding on BP cost-cutting

“To date, we have not found a single instance where human beings made a conscious decision to favor dollars over safety,” Fred Bartlit, chief counsel of the commission, said during a morning presentation at the opening of a two-day hearing.

But Markey suggested the conclusion about specific decisions must be considered in light of a BP corporate culture that he said fostered dangerous practices.

“When the culture of a company favors risk-taking and cutting corners above other concerns, systemic failures like this oil spill disaster result without direct decisions being made or tradeoffs being considered,” said Markey, who also is chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Bartlit later said his presentation this morning was not meant to suggest costs were not part of BP’s decision making.

“Any time you’re talking about a million-and-a-half dollars a day, money enters in,” Bartlit told reporters at a press briefing during an afternoon break in the commission meeting.

“All I’m saying is human beings did not sit there and sell safety down the river for dollars on the rig that night. That’s the sole point,” he added when asked about Markey’s comments.

Bartlit this afternoon also blamed the media for making “overarching conclusions” based on his  testimony.

Other top Democrats have also alleged BP cut corners that contributed to the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, an accident that killed 11 workers and touched off the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

“We learned that BP repeatedly made dangerous choices to save time and money,” said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), whose committee also probed the disaster, in July.