Manzoni of BP said he was not aware risks were catastrophic prior to refinery blast
BP's outgoing refining chief testified in a deposition last year that he first learned of serious safety concerns at the company's Texas City refinery in March 2005 when 15 people died in an explosion there, despite internal reports and warnings of potential danger. Plaintiffs' attorney Anthony Buzbee asked in the September 2006 deposition, "Before that, you had no idea that there was a risk of catastrophic injury?" Manzoni replied that had he been aware that catastrophic failure could occur BP would have taken action earlier. Manzoni's deposition was among hundreds of pages of blast-related documents and depositions made public June 11th under a Galveston judge's order. The release came less than two weeks after Manzoni resigned as refining chief. BP spokesman Neil Chapman declined to comment on whether the release of the documents played a role in Manzoni's departure.
