Transocean ordered to turn over subpoenaed documents to CSB
Owner of Deepwater Horizon has resisted subpoenas for nearly 3 years
The United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans, Louisiana this week refused to grant Transocean Deepwater Drilling, Inc., owner of the Deepwater Horizon, a stay of a recent federal district court order that the company promptly turn over documents that the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has subpoenaed from the company for its investigation into the April 2010 explosion at the Macondo drilling facility in the Gulf of Mexico.
In its ruling, the appeals court stated: “The injury that a stay would work upon the government and the public is clear. As we have discussed, the CSB is authorized to investigate accidental releases of hazardous substances and make recommendations to prevent future releases...Delaying the subpoenaed documents’ release would impede the accomplishment of this mission, which is of unquestionable significance to workplace and public safety. The injury to the public is compounded by the great amount of time it has taken to secure enforcement of the CSB’s subpoenas. Transocean has resisted the subpoenas for thirty-one months, of which twenty-one were consumed by litigation.