Declarations

Interlinked Failures

“A complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces came together to allow the initiation and escalation of the accident.”

—A report issued by BP Plc failed to identify any single action or inaction that caused the Deepwater Horizon rig to blow up on April 20, killing 11 workers, after the Macondo well ruptured. BP accepted some responsibility for the disaster but also pointed the finger at what it said were major failures by Transocean Ltd., the operator of the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon oil rig, and oil services company Halliburton, which cemented the deep-sea well.

Haven’t Hit Bottom

“Our prediction is the market would hit bottom by this summer, and that absolutely has not happened.”

—Surplus Line Association of California Executive Director Ted Pierce commenting on the 15.5 percent decrease in processed premium for the first six months of 2010, compared to the first six months of 2009. SLA said it processed $1.9 billion in premium for the first half of 2010. This is the third year of steady declines in surplus market share.

The Next Big One

“If you’re waiting for somebody to tell you when we’re close to the next San Andreas earthquake, just look at the data.”

—UC Irvine seismologist Lisa Grant Ludwig noting Southern California is overdue for a major earthquake. UC Irvine and Arizona State University researchers have charted temblors along the San Andreas fault stretching back 700 years and conclude that large ruptures have occurred on the Carrizo Plain portion of the fault – about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles – as often as every 45 to 144 years. But the last big quake was in 1857, more than 150 years ago. The widely accepted belief that a major earthquake happened on the fault every 250 to 400 years is inaccurate. “Data presented here contradict previously published reports,” the researchers said.