June 21, 2010 — A rig worker has claimed that he told both BP and the rig operator of a problem with a piece of equipment blamed by many for causing the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He says he gave the warning weeks before the explosion at the rig, and says the problem was not fixed at the time. Tyrone Benton says that he spotted a leak on the rig's Blowout Preventer (BOP), the device that is meant to shut the well down if there is an accident. He told the BBC's Panorama programme that both BP and Transocean, who owned the rig, were informed of the leak, and the faulty part -- a control pod -- was switched off rather than being repaired. This comes as BP announced that the 2 relief wells that are being drilled to stop the oil spill will not be completed until August.
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