per day . Those costs were `` overhanging the heads of people on the rigs , '' Bartlit said -- `` but they do n't want their buddies to get killed , or themselves . '' `` To date , we have not seen a single instance where a human being made a conscious decision to favor dollars over safety , '' he said . But as the commission opened two days of new hearings into the disaster on Monday , Graham questioned why the timing was `` so central '' to managers that they did not examine the well 's cementing job more closely . `` I would hope that tomorrow we get down to the question of just what was driving for a decision on that particular narrow 24 hours , '' added Graham , a former U.S. senator and Florida governor . In its preliminary findings , the commission criticized BP for shifting its plans for capping the completed well . At one point , one of the `` company men '' on the doomed rig was unaware of changes being planned back on shore , staff attorney Sean Grimsley said . Mark Bly , BP 's
Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Workers aboard the Deepwater Horizon were pushing to complete the well at the heart of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill before the disaster , but no `` conscious decision '' to cut corners on safety has been discovered , a presidential commission reported Monday . `` There seemed to be a compulsion to get this rig completed in that April 19th-April 20th time period , '' said Bob Graham , the commission 's co-chairman . `` And as a result of that , a number of things which might have made the outcome of this plight different were deferred or abandoned . '' The undersea gusher erupted with an April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drill rig , which was completing a well for the oil giant BP at the time of the blast . The rig sank two days later , taking 11 men to a watery grave and unleashing the worst oil spill in U.S. history . The well was about 45 days behind schedule , and Fred Bartlit , the commission 's chief counsel , said BP 's operating costs for the leased rig were running about $ 1.5 million