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separator, which could have caused the catastrophic failure of the device. The
Panel found evidence that the configuration of the mud gas separator system
directed the venting gas back towards the rig floor. A 12‐inch device called a
mud gas separator outlet vent was located at the top of the derrick and was
configured so that the pipe ran back toward the rig. This “gooseneck” piping
directed any venting gas and fluids back down to the rig floor. Another device
called a vacuum breaker was configured in a similar manner, but located at
approximately one‐third of the height of the derrick.

A number of individuals onboard the Deepwater Horizon at the time of the
blowout testified about what they saw in the vicinity of the mud gas separator.

Micah Sandell, a crane operator, who was in the port aft deck gantry
crane, testified that “all the sudden the degasser is – mud started coming out of
the degasser” and “it [came] out of it so strong and so loud that it just filled up
the whole back deck with a gassy smoke and it was loud enough that ‐ itʹs like
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taking an air hose and sticking it to your ear. Then something exploded.“

Paul Erickson, a dynamic positioning officer, who was on the bridge of the
Damon Bankston, testified:

Shortly after 9:30, I observed a cascade of liquid coming out of the rig, the
area of the drilling gear.

* * *

Shortly after the – after 9:30, after the, I saw the liquid coming out the
bottom of the rig, I heard what I thought at the time was a pressure tank
unloading. Itʹs not uncommon to dump the air out of a pressure tank, but
it lasted maybe 20, 30 seconds, which was not an unusual occurrence, but I
mentally categorized it as an unloading, which was not an exception. In
fact, it escaped my mind because it seemed to be one of the fairly routine
things to happen.

311 As discussed in the previous section, the mud gas separator is a device used to separate gas
from drilling fluid. It is not designed to handle high volume flow. The panel calculated that the
possible instantaneous flow rate was approximately 129.6 million cubic feet per day
(“MMCFPD”) based on fact that the Sperry‐Sun data showed a 150 bbl influx.
312 Sandell testimony at 10‐11. A gantry crane is a large crane that is on a horizontal track and can
move across the main deck.

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