Was the oil rig explosion an accident if a worker reported weeks earlier that it was leaking and BP did squat?

This was no accident. It was cause by willful negligence, and a willful disregard for safety all in the name of greed.

All the talk in the world isn't going to stop this spill. Giving BP HELL isn;t going to plug the hole. Accidents will happen. People aren't perfect, and people make mistakes. Tony is only ONE man, and he can't be everywhere all at the same time. People keep blaming HIM, but he doesn't OWN the company! You might say, He is the scape goat for this disaster. So --- if they take him out, IS there any other man who could do a better job than him??? Could another man STOP accidents from happening? Parts are manufactured by people and by machines. NOTHING is perfect, cos if everything was, we would have a perfect world Why don't they stop talking, and use their energy on SOLVING the problem! Who cares how long does it take to perform tests and all the other crap they are actually "discussing" on TV right now!!! Who ARE these so called experts grilling Tony? Have THEY ever been involved in building an oil rig, and been in charge of making sure it wouldn't fail? I am shocked at the tone of these men used when interrogating that poor man.

Transocean were regarded as unsafe by the UK regulator, due to finding faulty BOPs in British waters. They later assured the regulator and BP, their main client, that they had resolved this problem.

If the BOP was owned and maintained by Transocean, it would be their responsibility to ensure it was functional, though clearly if BP were aware it was faulty they should not have continued to use Transocean's equipment until that had been resolved.

So you are correct; if such a fault had been reported, procedures relying on it should not have been undertaken until it was resolved. What was the chain of command for that? I don't know.

Do you actually know that BP did nothing? Could it be that Transocean had assured BP it was resolved, like they had previously? We've got to be careful of not blaming the client for failures of a subcontractor, though of course the client has overall responsibility for the project.

Culpability and responsibility are not the same. If you employ a subcontractor to do a job, but who causes harm in a criminal way, you will be responsible for restitution of damages but it is the subcontractor who will face any criminal charges. You would be in a position to later sue them for the restitution costs, but it is still you who has to ensure the restitution in the first place.

I don't know all the details of what happened at the site, and I suspect you don't either. There is an investigation happening, and the regulator should ensure that it is correctly carried out with any culpability (chain of command, negligence, etc) being made clear. It could well be that both parties (and 2 others) were negligent and culpable, but we're just not in a position to prejudge that. Furthermore, what was the regulator doing? Had they inspected the equipment prior to use?

There's no doubt, though, that BP have responsibility, so it it their task to put this right.

The term "accident" isn't inherently linked to "absence of liability," as any breathing person should be aware.

I take issue with the proper arm of the government involving this accident. It isn't Obama and Congress. We do have a judicial branch that usually takes care of liability against any and all tortfeasors. We don't have the leak stopped or the mess cleaned up which means we do not have a bottom line on damages. Yet libs seem satisfied that Obama has requisitioned $20 billion. I have concerns about the victims even seeing this money.

BINGO! It was not an accident. It was a gross mismanagement and ethical neglect. But that' rampant throughout the U.S., in all sorts of industries. There's another BP disaster coming soon but from another lazy, neglectful agency near you.

It was not an accident in the sense that there were warnings that were ignored by the people in charge. Also, several safety procedures were ignored, such as drilling speed, making an incident inevitable.

Transocean were responsible for the operation and maintenance. i suppose a court will rule in BP's favour and Sue transocean

They always claim it was an "accident". That's how the sociopathic mind works when they kill others. I am just waiting for them to blame the victims, the next step.

Follow the money..see who would and is profitting over this"accident".Obama is clearly using this "accident" to try and shove Cap and Trade down the throats of the American people.Obama has a conflict of interests if it passes Obama becomes rich beyond his wildest dreams.

willful neglect would be if something was done that was known to be dangerous. That is still under investigation.