This report is excerpted from the blog NOLA.com. More reports to follow.
A pair of protesters interrupted the opening of the hearings being held in Kenner today by the U.S. Coast Guard and federal Minerals Management Service, the two agencies investigating what went wrong when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20.
"Materials Management should not be entrusted with the investigation of an enormous tragedy it helped to create," shouted a man holding a sign that read "This System is NOT fit to be the Caretaker of the Planet."
When he was led out by Coast Guard personnel, he was replaced by a woman who shouted, "Stop offshore drilling now, this hearing is not legitimate."
The investigative panel of three Coast Guard representatives and three MMS officials then took an oath to look into what went wrong, assign fault and commend those who performed admirably in the accident.
After a 10-minute recess, the panel has called its first witness, Kevin Robb, a search and rescue specialist with the local Coast Guard district.