The Galveston County Daily News

TEXAS CITY — Former BP PLC chairman John Browne gave a voluntary deposition under oath Friday, answering questions about the oil giant’s budget cuts that federal investigators said contributed to the deadly Texas City refinery explosions in 2005.

Attorney Brent Coon, who represents victims of the blast in hundreds of lawsuits, said Browne did not say he knew before the disaster that major infrastructure problems at the refinery were caused by budget cuts, but did say he knew the petrochemical industry as a whole was under intense pressure to cut costs, leading to the practice of deferring routine maintenance at plants.

The company did not comment on the deposition other than acknowledging that it lasted about an hour. A transcript was not immediately available.

Coon said Browne agreed to a one-hour deposition despite a January ruling from the Texas Supreme Court. The court said Coon must abide by a previous agreement between the trial parties. The agreement stipulated Browne could be deposed only if the testimony of another BP officer revealed Browne had unique knowledge of the refinery blasts.

Coon said Browne, flanked by company lawyers, was not as candid as he had hoped. However, he said the mere fact that Browne testified, via teleconference from London, was a victory for public policy. Coon has fought to get the deposition for two years. BP lawyers said Browne should not have to testify because he had no personal knowledge of the decisions that contributed to the disaster.

“A CEO of any company should not be able to do business in Texas, and if something terrible happens like a plant explosion, they should not be able to hide behind the law and say, ‘I’m the CEO and I’m too busy and too important to give a deposition,’” Coon said. “The law in Texas says that, and that law is wrong.”

Coon said Browne exerted some personal control over internal and external investigations following the blast. But Coon said Browne, in the deposition, only acknowledged being “passively involved” in the investigations.

Coon said he will use the Browne deposition to try to show the company’s top officers were so preoccupied with BP’s rapid growth that they lost focus on safety.

The explosions killed 15 people and injured more than 170. BP said it has spent more than $1.6 billion settling lawsuits, including all involving deaths. Hundreds more are pending.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has said the company’s extensive budget cuts led to poor maintenance that contributed to the explosions. Alarms and gauges that were supposed to warn of a dangerously overfilled gasoline processing unit didn’t work properly. The agency has said any one of a number of ignored safety measures could have prevented the disaster.

BP has been charged with a felony violation of the Clean Air Act for the safety lapses, and under a government plea would pay a $50 million fine.

Some members of Congress have cast a wary eye on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

On Thursday, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., sent a letter to the administration saying it has declined to strengthen process safety standards and inspections at petrochemical plants nationwide. Kennedy is also questioning why the administration failed to turn over some documents during the safety board’s two-year investigation of the disaster.

The administration did not return a call seeking comment. Kennedy gave the administration an April 16 deadline to respond and produce the documents he said the agency had withheld.