Transocean Must Give Rig Debris to Marine Panel, Judge Says

By Laurel Brubaker Calkins
source:businessweek.com
Transocean Ltd. must comply with a subpoena from a joint panel of the U.S. Coast Guard and Minerals Management Service that is investigating the explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig off the Louisiana coast, killing 11 and causing the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison in Houston today rejected the request by Transocean, the rig’s owner, to block the panel’s subpoena, which was approved by a different federal judge in New Orleans. Ellison is overseeing Transocean’s attempt to limit its liability related to the sunken rig.

Transocean’s lawyers said they feared turning over the rig’s work logs, records and physical debris would put it in violation of other court orders and a request by the U.S. Justice Department to preserve and maintain all evidence related to the disaster.