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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

IN RE: OIL SPILL BY THE OIL RIG * Docket 10-MD-2179DEEPWATER HORIZONIN THE *GULF OF MEXICO ON APRIL 20, 2010 * Section J

*Applies to: * New Orleans, Louisiana

*Docket 10-CV-02771, * March 21, 2013IN RE: THE COMPLAINT AND *PETITION OF TRITON ASSET *LEASING GmbH, et al *

*Docket 10-CV-4536, *UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. *BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION, *INC., et al *

** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

DAY 16, AFTERNOON SESSIONTRANSCRIPT OF NONJURY TRIAL

BEFORE THE HONORABLE CARL J. BARBIER

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Appearances:

For the Plaintiffs: Domengeaux Wright Roy& Edwards, LLC

BY: JAMES P. ROY, ESQ.556 Jefferson Street, Suite 500Post Office Box 3668Lafayette, Louisiana 70502

For the Plaintiffs: Herman Herman & Katz, LLCBY: STEPHEN J. HERMAN, ESQ.820 O'Keefe AvenueNew Orleans, Louisiana 70113

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Appearances:

For the Plaintiffs: Cunningham Bounds, LLCBY: ROBERT T. CUNNINGHAM, ESQ.1601 Dauphin StreetMobile, Alabama 36604

For the Plaintiffs: Lewis Kullman Sterbcow & AbramsonBY: PAUL M. STERBCOW, ESQ.601 Poydras Street, Suite 2615New Orleans, Louisiana 70130

For the Plaintiffs: Breit Drescher Imprevento

& Walker, PCBY: JEFFREY A. BREIT, ESQ.600 22nd Street, Suite 402Virginia Beach, Virginia 23451

For the Plaintiffs: Leger & ShawBY: WALTER J. LEGER JR., ESQ.600 Carondelet Street, 9th FloorNew Orleans, Louisiana 70130

For the Plaintiffs: Williams Law Group, LLC

BY: CONRAD "DUKE" WILLIAMS, ESQ.435 Corporate Drive, Suite 101Houma, Louisiana 70360

For the Plaintiffs: Thornhill Law FirmBY: TOM THORNHILL, ESQ.1308 Ninth StreetSlidell, Louisiana 70458

For the Plaintiffs: deGravelles Palmintier Holthaus& Frug, LLP

BY: JOHN W. DEGRAVELLES, ESQ.618 Main StreetBaton Rouge, Louisiana 70801

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Appearances:

For the Plaintiffs: Williamson & RusnakBY: JIMMY WILLIAMSON, ESQ.4310 Yoakum BoulevardHouston, Texas 77006

For the Plaintiffs: Irpino Law FirmBY: ANTHONY IRPINO, ESQ.2216 Magazine StreetNew Orleans, Louisiana 70130

For the United States U.S. Department of Justice

of America: Torts Branch, Civil DivisionBY: R. MICHAEL UNDERHILL, ESQ.450 Golden Gate Avenue7-5395 Federal Bldg., Box 36028San Francisco, California 94102

For the United States U.S. Department of Justiceof America: Environment & Natural Resources

Environmental Enforcement SectionBY: STEVEN O'ROURKE, ESQ.

SCOTT CERNICH, ESQ.DEANNA CHANG, ESQ.

RACHEL HANKEY, ESQ.A. NATHANIEL CHAKERES, ESQ.Post Office Box 7611Washington, D.C. 20044

For the United States U.S. Department of Justiceof America: Torts Branch, Civil Division

BY: JESSICA McCLELLAN, ESQ.MICHELLE DELEMARRE, ESQ.JESSICA SULLIVAN, ESQ.SHARON SHUTLER, ESQ.MALINDA LAWRENCE, ESQ.

Post Office Box 14271Washington, D.C. 20004

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Appearances:

For the United States U.S. Department of Justiceof America: Fraud Section

Commercial Litigation BranchBY: DANIEL SPIRO, ESQ.

KELLEY HAUSER, ESQ.ELIZABETH YOUNG, ESQ.

Ben Franklin StationWashington, D.C. 20044

For the State of Attorney General of AlabamaAlabama: BY: LUTHER STRANGE, ESQ.

COREY L. MAZE, ESQ.

WINFIELD J. SINCLAIR, ESQ.500 Dexter AvenueMontgomery, Alabama 36130

For the State of Attorney General of LouisianaLouisiana: BY: JAMES D. CALDWELL, ESQ.

1885 North Third StreetPost Office Box 94005Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804

For the State of Kanner & Whiteley, LLC

Louisiana: BY: ALLAN KANNER, ESQ.DOUGLAS R. KRAUS, ESQ.701 Camp StreetNew Orleans, Louisiana 70130

For BP Exploration & Liskow & Lewis, APLCProduction Inc., BY: DON K. HAYCRAFT, ESQ.BP America Production 701 Poydras Street, Suite 5000Company, BP PLC: New Orleans, Louisiana 70139

For BP Exploration & Kirkland & Ellis, LLP

Production Inc., BY: J. ANDREW LANGAN, ESQ.BP America Production HARIKLIA "CARRIE" KARIS, ESQ.Company, BP PLC: MATTHEW T. REGAN, ESQ.

300 N. LasalleChicago, Illinois 60654

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Appearances:

For BP Exploration & Covington & Burling, LLPProduction Inc., BY: ROBERT C. "MIKE" BROCK, ESQ.BP America Production 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWCompany, BP PLC: Washington, D.C. 20004

For Transocean Holdings Frilot, LLCLLC, Transocean Offshore BY: KERRY J. MILLER, ESQ.Deepwater Drilling Inc., 1100 Poydras Street, Suite 3700Transocean Deepwater Inc.: New Orleans, Louisiana 70163

For Transocean Holdings Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, LLP

LLC, Transocean Offshore BY: STEVEN L. ROBERTS, ESQ.Deepwater Drilling Inc., RACHEL G. CLINGMAN, ESQ.Transocean Deepwater Inc.: 1001 Fannin Street, Suite 3700

Houston, Texas 77002

For Transocean Holdings Munger Tolles & Olson, LLPLLC, Transocean Offshore BY: MICHAEL R. DOYEN, ESQ.Deepwater Drilling Inc., BRAD D. BRIAN, ESQ.Transocean Deepwater Inc.: LUIS LI, ESQ.

355 S. Grand Avenue, 35th FloorLos Angeles, California 90071

For Transocean Holdings Mahtook & LafleurLLC, Transocean Offshore BY: RICHARD J. HYMEL, ESQ.Deepwater Drilling Inc., 600 Jefferson Street, Suite 1000Transocean Deepwater Inc.: Post Office Box 3089

Lafayette, Louisiana 70501

For Transocean Holdings Hughes Arrell Kinchen, LLPLLC, Transocean Offshore BY: JOHN KINCHEN, ESQ.Deepwater Drilling Inc., 2211 Norfolk, Suite 1110Transocean Deepwater Inc.: Houston, Texas 77098

For Cameron International Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann, LLCCorporation: BY: PHILLIP A. WITTMANN, ESQ.

546 Carondelet StreetNew Orleans, Louisiana 70130

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Appearances:

For Cameron International Beck Redden & Secrest, LLPCorporation: BY: DAVID J. BECK, ESQ.

DAVID W. JONES, ESQ.GEOFFREY GANNAWAY, ESQ.ALEX B. ROBERTS, ESQ.

1221 McKinney Street, Suite 4500Houston, Texas 77010

For Halliburton Energy Godwin Lewis, PCServices, Inc.: BY: DONALD E. GODWIN, ESQ.

BRUCE W. BOWMAN JR., ESQ.FLOYD R. HARTLEY JR., ESQ.

GAVIN HILL, ESQ.1201 Elm Street, Suite 1700Dallas, Texas 75270

For Halliburton Energy: Godwin Lewis, PCServices, Inc.: BY: JERRY C. VON STERNBERG, ESQ.

1331 Lamar, Suite 1665Houston, Texas 77010

For M-I, LLC: Morgan Lewis & BockiusBY: HUGH E. TANNER, ESQ.

DENISE SCOFIELD, ESQ.JOHN C. FUNDERBURK, ESQ.1000 Louisiana Street, Suite 4000Houston, Texas 77002

Official Court Reporter: Jodi Simcox, RMR, FCRR500 Poydras Street, Room HB-406New Orleans, Louisiana 70130(504) [email protected]

Proceedings recorded by mechanical stenography usingcomputer-aided transcription software.

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I N D E X

Page

Eric Gregory ChildsCross-Examination By Ms. Karis 5405Cross-Examination By Mr. Jones: 5509Redirect Examination By Mr. Baay: 5521

Murry Robert Sepulvado

Videotaped deposition: 5527Buddy Joseph Trahan

Videotaped deposition: 5528

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AFTERNOON SESSION

(March 21, 2013)

* * * * *

THE COURT: Please be seated, everyone.

Any preliminary matters?

MR. GODWIN: Don Godwin for Halliburton, Judge.

We've got a witness, Judge, that's going to come

up, our second witness, that's -- based on the way the trial is

going, we would expect that to be the early part of the nextweek, Tuesday, or whatever it's going to be.

His name is Dr. Kris Ravi. He's an

internationally recognized cement expert. He will testify

about cement, the fact that he believes it's set up. He will

also talk about a flow path theory. All of that will come

forward through his testimony.

Judge, Dr. Ravi is a rebuttal expert. He's

probably the only true rebuttal expert in the entire case.

Everybody's filed rebuttal reports, but he was made a rebuttal

expert witness after I took --

THE COURT: I'm not sure what that means, "rebuttal

expert."

MR. GODWIN: Well, yeah. We were allowed by Judge

Shushan, and after Mr. Ron Crook, who testified for BP to come

in and testify, then we asked that we be allowed to have Kris

Ravi deposed. And he in fact was deposed, Judge, in September

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of 2011 for one day as a fact witness. He was deposed, Judge,

in February of 2012 for two days as an expert. So over a year

ago, he was deposed.

He'll be rebutting what Mr. Crook will be

saying. Mr. Crook is on the will-call list for BP.

Now, why I'm bringing this up, Judge, is not so

much for a resolution at this point, but just as a placeholder

for Your Honor.

I've talked to a couple of lawyers, and theytell me that there will be opposition to having Dr. Ravi

testify before Mr. Crook testifies.

I said, "Well, Judge Barbier has set it up so

I've got to call my witnesses, and I'm going to need to put

this expert on."

And they were saying, "Well, but we want to hear

from Crook first because Ravi is actually a rebuttal."

And I said, "Well, I'm fine doing it either

way."

In other words, as a suggestion, as we did with

Tim Quirk, we can hold our case open, they could do Mr. Crook

and then I could put Mr. Ravi on. Or, Your Honor, as this is a

bench trial, as a suggestion, you could say, "Well, I'll go

ahead and hear what Dr. Ravi has to say, and then I'll hear

Crook at a later time," which --

THE COURT: And as far as I'm concerned, we'll take

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him whenever you want to put him on in your case.

MR. GODWIN: Okay, sir.

THE COURT: Unless you all work out something else by

agreement. But otherwise, let's just put him on in your case.

MR. GODWIN: That's what I'll do, Judge. I just

wanted to raise that, because the gentlemen brought it up to me

and said, "Don, why don't you raise it with the Court?"

And I said I would, and if anybody wanted to be

briefly heard, I'm sure you'd allow them to do so.THE COURT: All right. Thank you.

MR. GODWIN: Thank you, Judge.

MR. STERBCOW: Very briefly, Your Honor. Paul

Sterbcow for the PSC.

Our concern -- only concern, and I want to state

it for the record -- is that in the event that Dr. Crook winds

up not testifying, then we've had rebuttal to testimony that's

not in the record. That's why this whole thing came up,

because we don't -- BP's going to go last, and we don't know

if --

THE COURT: Well, I don't even know what this means,

he's only a rebuttal expert. If he's listed as an expert and

he was deposed and all, he's an expert and they can put him on,

as far as I'm concerned.

MR. GODWIN: He is an expert, Your Honor.

THE COURT: You've actually got a deposition of the

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other fellow?

MR. GODWIN: Yes, sir, Judge.

MR. STERBCOW: Yes, sir.

THE COURT: I imagine if he doesn't show up, you

maybe could even offer his deposition.

MR. UNDERHILL: Mike Underhill on behalf of the

United States.

The only reason we raised it, along with Paul

Sterbcow with the PSC, is that Dr. Ravi's report explicitlysays it's only in rebuttal to Mr. Crook. And part of the -- I

understand.

But part of the theory, Your Honor, is that

we're all acutely aware of the Court's -- I'd call it more than

a suggestion -- to keep the case moving along.

If, in fact, Mr. Crook doesn't testify on behalf

of BP, then Mr. Ravi's testified in response to testimony that

won't exist.

And I thought we could possibly cut out one,

possibly two witnesses. That was the thought behind it.

THE COURT: Let's find out who's going to -- what's

his name? Crook? Mr. Crook? Dr. Crook?

MR. GODWIN: Judge, if I might.

THE COURT: Let me just ask BP.

Can you tell us whether he's going to be called?

MR. REGAN: We're considering whether or not we need

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to call Mr. Crook. It may be somewhat, in some sense, tied

into the motion that we're also filing and we'll be putting on

file today.

But we can confer and maybe give some guidance

to the parties on that and then present you with a more

concrete view of what's going to be going forward -- no pun

intended.

I will just say the other aspect of this,

Your Honor, is that with respect to experts in this case, ithas been established that, if a party does not call an expert,

no other party can call them.

A fact witness, if a party doesn't call a fact

witness, they --

THE COURT: No other party can call your expert. I

see.

MR. REGAN: Correct. That's why we have this issue

right now. Yes, sir.

But we will confer with Mr. Godwin and also

Mr. Sterbcow and everyone and see if we can give you some

clarity on that.

THE COURT: Okay. Good.

MR. UNDERHILL: Just a practical suggestion,

Your Honor, is that I think -- Mr. Godwin, I think, had

Mr. Ravi as his second-at-bat witness. Perhaps if Don could

agree to maybe put him down in the batting order a little bit

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ERIC GREGORY CHILDS - CROSS

to see if the Court is inclined to give the parties guidance,

as Mr. Regan mentioned.

Maybe that -- and he can still call the witness

if it indicates that it's proper to do so. But perhaps we can

just defer that decision to see if, in fact, it's necessary.

THE COURT: I would suggest that the three parties or

four parties, whoever is involved in this, confer sometime

today and see if you all can work this out.

MR. UNDERHILL: Thank you, Your Honor.MR. GODWIN: If not, we'll bring it up again,

Your Honor, on Monday morning or whatever's convenient for you.

THE COURT: Sure.

MR. GODWIN: Thank you, Judge.

MR. REGAN: Thank you, Your Honor.

THE COURT: Ms. Karis?

MS. KARIS: Thank you, Your Honor.

(WHEREUPON, ERIC GREGORY CHILDS, having been

previously duly sworn, testified as follows.)

MS. KARIS: May I proceed?

THE COURT: Yes.

MS. KARIS: Thank you, Your Honor.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. Good afternoon, Mr. Childs.

A. Good afternoon.

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Q. And just for the record, Hariklia Karis continuing the

cross-examination for BP.

I want to turn now to some of your opinions with

respect to batteries and solenoids, which are components of the

control system; correct?

A. Yes, they are.

Q. Is it fair to say that the BOP control system, basically,

is the electrical communications system that takes an

electrical signal and tells the BOP to perform certainfunctions?

A. Of course, it's more than that. But there is an

electrical portion turned into a hydraulic portion that

signals -- moves a component.

Q. Fair enough.

That was sort of a crude explanation, but it's an

electrical system, in essence; correct?

A. The portion you are speaking of, of course, with the

batteries and the solenoid is the electrical portion.

Q. And you understood in this case that that's what was at

issue; that is, the solenoids and the batteries; correct?

A. Correct.

Q. All right. And I think you already agreed this morning

you don't have a degree in electrical engineering and you have

no formal training or background in electrical engineering;

correct?

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A. I do not have a degree; that's correct.

Q. And you also don't have any formal training; correct?

A. I've not taken electrical courses except at -- during my

engineering degree, I did take electrical courses as required

by the degree that I have.

Q. It's a correct statement, as you've said before, that you

have no formal training relating to electrical engineering;

correct?

A. I want to make sure. I did take electrical courses in1970 or something, but nothing beyond that.

Q. All right. So other than maybe a couple of courses in

college, nothing beyond that; no formal training beyond that?

A. All the rest of the training is on the job, in the field

with the equipment.

Q. All right. And similarly, you have no training in

electronics or software that controls those systems; correct?

A. No. I use others for software.

Q. Okay. You do not consider yourself to be an expert in

batteries; correct?

A. On these batteries used in this system, yes, I do.

Q. Okay. Let's see your deposition, page 54, lines 18 to 20.

This is from your deposition December 1st, 2011.

Were you asked the following question:

"QUESTION: You would not consider yourself to be an

expert relating to batteries; correct?

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"ANSWER: No, sir."

Is that correct?

A. That's what I said at the time. May I explain? We did go

through my other explanation on this later.

Q. Well, let's take it one thing at a time. Start with that.

You don't consider yourself to be an expert relating

to batteries; correct?

A. The answer here said, "No, sir."

Q. All right. And then let's look at the next question:"QUESTION: Would you consider yourself to be an

expert relating to the functionality of solenoid valves?"

And your answer again was:

"ANSWER: Not an expert, but I've learned a great

deal about solenoids" --

MS. KARIS: And let's go to the next page.

And if you can call up through line 9.

"ANSWER: -- solenoids and batteries, that may be --

And the question was:

"QUESTION: And you've learned related to batteries

and solenoids that were relating to your work on this

matter; correct?

And you say:

"ANSWER: Yes, sir. I knew about batteries and

valves --

MS. KARIS: I'm sorry. Start again.

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"ANSWER: Yes, sir. I, of course, I knew solenoid

valves and batteries before, but the depth has gone a lot

more over the last year and a half."

Correct?

A. That's what it says, yes, ma'am.

Q. And the last year and a half, where your depth has gone a

lot more, that was in connection with the work that you did on

this case; correct?

A. That's what I'm speaking of at that time.Q. Correct.

And so to the extent that you required an in-depth

understanding of batteries and solenoids, you did it in

connection with the work that you did on this matter?

A. I've worked with them a lot more than that. But at the

time, I was thinking -- of course, when I said first, am I an

expert on all solenoids? No.

Am I an expert on these solenoids? Yes. I've worked

with them for 12 years or more, the same with the batteries.

Q. But you yourself admit that, to the extent you've acquired

an in-depth understanding of solenoids, including the ones on

this matter, which is what you were being asked about, you said

you've gone a lot more over the last year and a half, working

on this case?

A. Yes, I said that, and I'm still learning more.

Q. Okay. Now, when you worked at Cameron, the design of

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control systems, including solenoids and batteries, that was

handled by a separate department than the one you worked in?

A. That is correct.

Q. You did not work, ever, in Cameron's control systems

department; is that correct?

A. No, I did not.

Q. And, in fact, the reason you brought in someone else from

WEST Engineering, namely Mr. Tolleson, is because you thought

he had better expertise than you did?A. He had additional expertise in electronics, software, and

code.

Q. And to the extent it required -- working in this case

required setting up tests or designing test procedures, for

that work you relied on Mr. Tolleson?

A. One of the best possible, so I used Mr. Tolleson.

Q. Because if you did that work, you would consider that to

be -- as you've previously described -- over your head?

A. Mr. Tolleson can do work beyond what I know. That's why I

utilized him on the testing. We talked about the procedures,

and he performed the testing. He can set the testing up.

Q. Mr. Childs, you've previously told us that, when it comes

to setting up tests and test procedures, that's over your head;

correct?

A. The final procedures, the details, would be up to the --

Mr. Tolleson, yes.

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Q. Let's look at deposition page 54, lines 6 through 9.

"QUESTION: Did Mr. Tolleson discuss with you how the

tests would be set up and prepared?

"ANSWER: In more general terms, because if he got

any deeper, he'd be over my head."

Correct?

A. That's when he started -- yes. When he started discussing

the actual name of the equipment, I wouldn't have understood

it. When he understood -- when he said he's routing thecurrent this way through this process or whatever, that, I

understood.

But when he talked about the names of equipment and

diodes and transistors, he would be beyond what I am used to

working with.

Q. To be clear, the work that he was describing that you said

beyond general terms would be over your head was work in

connection with your opinions in this case; correct?

A. It was work to learn how the SEM operated.

Q. And the SEM and how it operated was what you were

considering as part of your work for your opinions in this

case; correct?

A. That's part of it, yes. And he was doing that testing to

get the answers of how it operated.

Q. Okay. Now, you are familiar with Mr. Zatarain?

A. Yes.

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Q. And Mr. Zatarain is BP's control systems expert who you

were asked to critique some of his opinions in your direct

examination with Mr. Baay; correct?

A. I think I missed one of your words. If you would repeat,

please.

Q. I'm sorry. To critique, or to offer your opinions

regarding his work in this case; correct?

A. I'm missing the word. You asked me if I heard --

Q. Let me start over again.You're familiar with Mr. Zatarain, who is BP's

control systems expert?

A. Yes, I am.

Q. And Mr. Zatarain is the individual whose work you

critiqued in connection with rendering your opinions in this

case?

A. Yes, I read his reports.

Q. And you're aware that Mr. Zatarain, unlike you, is, in

fact, a licensed electrical engineer?

A. I understand he is.

Q. And he has more than 30 years working on control systems

in the oil and gas industry; correct?

A. I'll take your word, yes.

Q. You saw his deposition and you saw his curriculum vitae,

as well as his expert report. You reviewed that; correct?

A. Yes.

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Q. And you reviewed that in connection with rendering

criticisms of his opinions in this case?

A. Yes.

Q. And so you would agree that Mr. Zatarain has extensive

experience on control systems and a lot more experience than

you have in that area; correct?

A. He has -- you're right. He has considerable experience in

control systems. Not necessarily --

Q. Not only considerable -- I'm sorry. Go ahead.A. Not necessarily drilling control systems, but control

systems.

Q. You would agree he has extensive and a lot more experience

than you have in this space?

A. In drilling control systems, I'm not so sure. But I know

control systems in general, yes.

Q. Okay. Now, you agree -- or strike that.

You're aware that Mr. Zatarain, along with all of the

other experts in this case that are testifying regarding the

issue of BOP, disagree with your conclusions about the

functioning of the Deepwater Horizon's BOP control systems,

specifically batteries and solenoids?

A. I understand that. I have my testing and I utilized that

information.

Q. And we'll get to that. Mr. Tolleson's testing, you mean?

A. Well, it's mine, too. I directed it, he did it. I have

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the answers.

Q. Correct. We'll talk about that, I promise. But just to

be clear, that's the testing that Mr. Tolleson did?

A. He performed the testing.

Q. Now, before we get to the testing, let's talk about how

this AMF/deadman emergency intervention system works. And I

know you talked about it briefly, so I don't want to repeat old

ground.

But just to set the stage here, the AMF/deadmanoperates after you've had a loss of communication, electronics,

and hydraulics; correct?

A. That is correct.

Q. All right. And when the AMF/deadman is operating, it's

basically monitoring to evaluate whether those emergency

conditions exist so that it can then activate and serve its

function?

A. That sounds correct.

Q. And we call that the AMF/deadman system being armed;

correct?

A. When it's armed, it is talking with each side.

Q. And when it's armed, it's basically communicating to see

whether or not it's needed, if you will, if it's being called

upon?

A. Basically, yes.

Q. And so at all times when the BOP is in use, the AMF system

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is armed and actually ready to serve its function?

A. That's correct.

Q. Or should be, at least?

A. That's the intent, yes.

Q. Okay.

MS. KARIS: Now, if we can pull up D-4605.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. You spoke yesterday about redundancy and redundant

systems. And just to be clear here, we have a BOP and it has ablue pod, and then it also has a yellow pod; correct?

A. Correct.

Q. And those are redundant systems. You don't need both of

them to work for the AMF to work, but you do need at least one

to operate?

A. That is correct.

Q. All right. And within each pod -- one being the yellow

pod, one being a blue pod -- we have two 9-volt batteries;

correct?

A. Yes, ma'am.

Q. And they're each connected to a SEM --

A. Yes.

Q. -- a subsea electronics module?

A. Yes.

Q. And then those are both connected to a 27-volt battery;

correct?

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A. There's a shared 27-volt battery, yes.

Q. All right. So when we talk about redundancy, there is

redundancy even within each pod; that is, each 9-volt battery

is connected to a SEM, to a SEM-A for one, SEM-B for the other;

correct?

A. Correct.

Q. Those are redundant within each other; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. But then they're connected to one 27-volt battery;correct?

A. Correct.

Q. And so you do need that 27-volt battery to operate in

order for either SEM-A or SEM-B to activate?

A. Yes. As I said, it's a shared battery.

Q. All right. And then similarly, the yellow pod, same

configuration and, again, you need your 27-volt battery to

function in order for this redundant pod to work?

A. Correct.

Q. All right. And so if there's only one 27-volt battery and

that battery is discharged, then that pod cannot function;

correct?

A. If that battery is bad, it can't function.

Q. All right. Now, the pods were actually recovered, the

ones that were on the Deepwater Horizon; correct?

A. Yes. We have them.

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Q. All right. And after they were recovered, they were at

the port in Michoud; right?

A. Yes.

Q. And after they were recovered, the DNV performed some

forensic evaluation on these?

A. Yes.

MS. KARIS: If we could pull up 1164.60.4, please.

Let's actually go to the cover, first, 1164,

just the cover.BY MS. KARIS:

Q. And this is the final report from the DNV, including the

results from its forensic evaluation of those batteries -- of

those pods, I should say; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. You're familiar with that report. You've looked at it,

you've considered it, and you've relied on it?

A. Yes.

MS. KARIS: Now, if we can go to 1164.60.4.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. Now, here, we see in Table 5, blue and yellow pod battery

voltage measurements; correct?

A. That's what it says, yes.

Q. And these are the results in the DNV report of the

voltage -- of the 27-volt battery when it was recovered and

evaluated; is that correct?

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A. Yes.

Q. All right. And we're talking about -- when we in this

case talk about the discharged battery, we were talking about

the blue pod having the discharged battery; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And the yellow pod, that's the one that had the miswired

solenoid; correct?

A. Solenoid 103Y, yes.

Q. So if the solenoid is miswired, even if your battery isworking, you can't activate that pod?

A. That's not true.

Q. All right. Well, we'll get to that in a second.

Let's focus on the battery, the blue pod battery.

After retrieval, the DNV assessed what the voltage was in

Test 1 of that blue pod; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And they concluded -- what did they conclude was the final

voltage when they recovered the battery and tested it?

A. I assume you're asking about the 27-volt?

Q. Yes, the 27-volt, the one that we're talking about.

A. Test 1 was 1.1 volts.

Q. 1.1; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And then the second test, that was 1.0?

A. 1.0.

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Q. And you agree with me that a 1.1 or a 1.0 voltage is not

sufficient to operate the 27-volt battery?

A. Yes. In the nomenclature I used before, that would be a

bad battery.

Q. So we're all in agreement that, at least at the time that

the DNV forensically examined the 27-volt battery, it was a bad

battery?

A. Unexpectedly low, very low.

Q. And to use your word, a "bad battery"?A. I was actually using that from Zatarain's report, calling

it a bad battery.

Q. Okay. Now, in your opinion, though, at the time on

April 20th, the results were something other than 1.1 and 1.0

for the voltage of that battery; is that correct?

A. That's correct. The voltage measured here does not tell

you what the voltage was on April 20th.

Q. We're going to talk about that. But before we talk about

that, one of the things that you looked at is what was

Cameron's recommendation for how these batteries should be

handled or changed; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And Cameron was the manufacturer of the control system

here?

A. Yes, they were.

Q. And Cameron had issued recommendations for how the

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batteries in its control system should be replaced in

accordance with their practices -- or recommended practices, at

least.

A. They provided that engineering bulletin on their

recommendations.

Q. Now, you in your report --

MS. KARIS: If we could pull up 7688.9.2, please.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. This is from your report. You recognize this?A. Yes.

Q. You begin by saying: "The batteries for all three

Deepwater Horizon SEM pods were replaced in accordance with the

recommendations outlined in EB 819 D above"; correct?

A. 891.

THE COURT: You read 819, it's 891.

MS. KARIS: I'm sorry. I'm dyslexic.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. EB 891 D; correct?

A. Correct.

Q. And to be clear, EB 891 D, that's Cameron's bulletin of

its recommendations for how these batteries should be handled?

A. Yes.

Q. All right. And you concluded in your report that they had

been replaced in accordance with the recommendations?

A. Yes.

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Q. And I thought I heard you say earlier today when you were

examined by Mr. DeGravelles --

MS. KARIS: And I apologize if I'm not pronouncing

your name right.

MR. DeGRAVELLES: Good enough.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. -- that, in fact, the batteries on the pod, the blue pod,

were not replaced in accordance with the recommendations of

EB 891, but you disagree with what Cameron says should havebeen done?

A. Actually, we did start discussing this yesterday, that the

April '09 that I have on this document, I was mistaken; it was

actually March '09.

Q. Okay. We're going to get to that.

So you would -- you no longer hold the opinion that

all three of the Deepwater Horizon SEM pods were replaced in

accordance with the recommendations outlined by Cameron; is

that correct?

A. On the calendar-year basis -- because of the mistake I

made from April to March, the calendar-year basis is after a

year; but on the actual-use basis, it's less than a year of

service.

Q. But at the time of your deposition, you were basing it on

a calendar year because you thought, based on April -- the

calendar-year theory fit your conclusions that they were in

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accordance with recommended practices; correct?

A. Since it was April, I didn't have to look any further.

When I discovered it was not, I needed to go, for my own

benefit, as I told the judge yesterday, find what use did it

really have.

Q. Right. So at the time you thought April was good enough,

it was from when they were in use; but now that you looked back

and recognized that in fact they don't satisfy that in-use

requirement, you revised it to from when they were splashed andactually used; is that correct?

A. There's a little bit of a mischaracterization there. We

discovered an error, we did. I was wrong. It wasn't April; it

was March. When it was March, I needed to go look at more

information.

Q. All right. So let me ask you again: Have you changed

your opinion that these three batteries were replaced in

accordance with the recommendations outlined in Cameron's

bulletin?

A. I still think they're within one year's use, on-time

operation.

Q. Are they replaced in accordance with Cameron's

recommendation, is my question.

A. With my definition, the way I look at on-time operation,

yes.

Q. But your definition is different than Cameron's

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definition; correct?

A. I understand that.

Q. So you agree with me, it's different?

A. I agree that my definition is different.

Q. All right.

MS. KARIS: Let's look at that bulletin, 891 D -- I'm

sorry, TREX-3605.1.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. This is Cameron's bulletin dated September 8th, 2004.It's their engineering bulletin that addresses AMF/deadman

battery replacement; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. If we can go to -- and this is what you disagree with,

"this" being Cameron's AMF/deadman battery replacement?

A. Just the one point in their recommendation list.

MS. KARIS: And if we can go now to 3605.2.1.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. In its bulletin issued in 2004, the engineering bulletin,

Cameron states: "Cameron is making the same recommendations

for battery replacement: It is recommended that the 9-VDC and

the 27-VDC battery packs be replaced after:" --

And the first bullet says: "One year of on-time

operation."

Correct?

A. I believe you read it correctly, yes.

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Q. Okay. Now, at the time of your deposition, you had not

consulted with anyone from Cameron to evaluate what "one-year

on-time operation" meant under their engineering bulletin;

correct?

A. No. I had read it and seen the face of it and knew what

it meant.

Q. My question was whether you had consulted with anyone at

Cameron to see whether your understanding was accurate.

A. At the time of my deposition, I had not.Q. At the time of your deposition, you were aware of what you

told us was only one document that explained what Cameron meant

in its Engineering Bulletin 891 D; correct?

A. There's an e-mail after the incident where this question

was asked, and they defined it differently than I do.

Q. And to be clear, Transocean actually tried to understand

what this bulletin meant after the incident; correct?

A. They were doing a verification from Cameron.

MS. KARIS: All right. Let's look at that

verification. 7669.1.4, please.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. See the bottom e-mail from James Kent? And I believe

earlier there was a reference to James Kent of being from BP,

but Mr. Kent is actually with Transocean. I think it was

probably just misspoken.

A. I think I said he was the rig manager.

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Q. Right.

A. Transocean.

Q. I think the question was James Kent from BP. And just to

be clear, Mr. Kent is actually with Transocean; correct?

A. Yes. I agree he was the rig manager.

Q. He's Paul Johnson's counterpart. He's an asset rig

manager; correct?

A. I didn't remember his exact title.

Q. And a couple weeks after the incident, or 24 days, hewrites to William Stringfellow. And you recognize who

Mr. Stringfellow is; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. He is Transocean's subsea supervisor -- superintendent

actually; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And he would have responsibility for BOP maintenance?

A. Yes.

Q. All right. And Mr. Kent writes to Mr. Stringfellow,

May 14, and he says: "Billy, looking at the recommended

replacement interval, do you understand what 'one year of

on-time maintenance means'? It's not clear to me when these

batteries should be replaced."

Correct?

A. I see that.

Q. And so Mr. Stringfellow then writes to Jason Van Lue. Do

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you see that, the same day?

A. Yes.

Q. And Mr. Van Lue is actually with Cameron; correct?

A. That's correct.

Q. And so the subsea superintendent at Transocean is reaching

out to Cameron to find out -- he said: "Jason, can you answer

the below question for James? He is needing a better

understanding to this comment -- of this comment."

Correct?A. Yes.

Q. And to be clear, what's happening here is Transocean's

subsea superintendent is trying to understand what the one year

of on-time maintenance means?

A. That's the question he asked, yes.

Q. All right. Now, if we can look at -- Mr. Van Lue

responded, didn't he?

A. Yes, he did.

MS. KARIS: If we can now look at Mr. Van Lue's

response, which is at the top of the same document, Exhibit

TREX-7669.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. Mr. Van Lue responds, and he says, "Billy, Cameron's

meaning for one year of on-time operation is one year from the

time the batteries are installed in the SEM"; correct?

A. Yes, you read that correctly.

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Q. Okay. And to be clear, Mr. Van Lue is saying how Cameron

interprets its own bulletin is that it's one year from when the

batteries are installed in the SEM?

A. I see that's what he said, yes, ma'am.

Q. And that's not just Mr. Van Lue's view. That's what he

said Cameron's meaning is; correct?

A. That's what he said in this e-mail, yes, ma'am.

Q. And he copies some senior folks at Cameron in this.

Mr. Coronado. Do you recognize him?A. Yes.

Q. Mr. McWhorter and Mr. King and Mr. Whitby?

A. Yes.

Q. You never saw anything from Cameron saying, "This is not

what we mean"?

A. No, I did not.

Q. But in your assessment, you apply the definition or

interpretation different than what Mr. Van Lue told Transocean

was the meaning of its bulletin on May 14th, 2010; correct?

A. Yes. My engineering analysis -- my engineering

understanding of on-time operation is as I stated yesterday.

Q. Now, at the time you were deposed, you told us that you

thought this was one man's interpretation from Cameron.

Do you recall saying that?

A. Yes.

Q. Do you still think this is just one man's interpretation

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from Cameron as to what Cameron's bulletin means when it says

"one year of on-time operations"?

A. Better stated, it would have been an e-mail from one man

that said this.

Q. But you don't believe it's just one person at Cameron that

holds this point of view, do you? And by "this," I mean one

year from the time the batteries are installed.

A. As you said, he copied others. And I'm not seeing

anything else. I don't know if there's anything else out therewhere there's been discussion within Cameron.

Q. We talked about Mr. McWhorter, David McWhorter?

A. Yes.

Q. And he is also with Cameron; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. Did you review his deposition to see what he says it

means?

A. I believe I did, yes.

MS. KARIS: Let's look at 489, David McWhorter's

deposition, 489, line 17, to 490, line 3.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. (Reading):

"QUESTION: Using this same bulletin, if you turn to

page 2 of this exhibit, there's a series of bullet points

that set out when the battery should be replaced; correct?

"ANSWER: That's correct.

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"QUESTION: And under the first bullet point, it

says: 'One year of on-time operation.'

What does 'on-time operation' mean?

"ANSWER: On-time operation is from the time it's

installed."

Correct?

A. That's what he said, yes.

Q. So even though, at the time of your dep, you said it was

one man's interpretation, in fact, it was multiple people'sinterpretation from Cameron that that's what they meant; that

is, one year from the time it's installed?

A. Yes, I see that.

Q. Now, in addition to what Cameron thought -- you were a

part of Transocean's investigation team; is that correct?

A. I was.

Q. All right. And did you undertake an investigation or at

least an inquiry to see what Transocean thought that bulletin

meant?

A. I personally did not.

Q. Did you ask anyone at Transocean whether they agreed with

your engineering assessment, as you told us, of what that

meant?

A. I worked with the team that I was working with. I asked

the team that I was working with, yes.

Q. Do you know who Mr. Hay, is Mark Hay?

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A. I know the name.

Q. Mr. Hay is Transocean's subsea supervisor who had

responsibility for the Deepwater Horizon's BOP; correct?

A. Yes.

MS. KARIS: All right. And if we can look at

Mr. Hay's deposition, 140.358.1, please.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. You said you asked the team. You would agree with me it

would make sense to ask the people who were actually involvedin maintenance activities for the BOP that you were

investigating?

A. I'm sorry. Did you say --

Q. Let me rephrase.

A. Yes, please.

Q. You said you spoke to the team about your interpretation;

correct?

A. The joint team at Transocean.

Q. Right. But in reaching your assessment or speaking to the

team, it would certainly make sense to speak to the members of

Transocean who had actual responsibility for maintenance of the

BOP that you were conducting an investigation for; correct?

A. I did not speak to Mr. Hay. Other people on the team

might have. I do not know.

MS. KARIS: Let's look at his deposition, 148.358.1,

please.

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BY MS. KARIS:

Q. Did you form an understanding as to what Transocean

claimed its policy was for changing out control pod batteries?

A. Yes.

Q. Okay. Let's look at what Mr. Hay says.

UNIDENTIFED SPEAKER: What page number, please?

MS. KARIS: I'm sorry. Page 140, and it's lines 19

through page 141, line 1, please.

Let me correct that. It's Deposition Bundle 140,page 358, line 19, to page 359, line 1.

Sorry about that, Don.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. Mr. Hay was asked in this deposition:

"QUESTION: Your understanding is it -- it is

Transocean's policy to change the control pod batteries

once a year; is that right?"

"ANSWER: That's correct.

"QUESTION: And that's consistent with Cameron's

policy about the replacement of batteries; is that right?

"ANSWER: Yes."

Do you see that?

A. I see that.

Q. Now, you reviewed the history of batteries in Pod 1,

Pod 2, and Pod 3; correct?

A. I did.

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

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Q. And would you agree with me that it was not Transocean's

policy or practice to change out the control pod batteries once

a year?

A. No, do I agree that it was not the policy?

Q. Well, that's what the policy was. Let me rephrase.

While the policy was to change them out once a year,

you would agree with me that that wasn't the practice?

A. No, I wouldn't agree with that.

Q. All right. Well, let's look at that.Did you find -- when was the Pod 3 27-volt battery

put in use? Go ahead.

A. Pod 3 in the blue pod?

Q. Yes.

A. It was put into use March of '09.

Q. And when was it acquired?

A. The batteries were installed November '07.

Q. So the installation of the batteries, which is what

Cameron says you should measure from, was November of 2007;

correct?

A. And the pod was not used until March of '09.

Q. Okay. We're going to get to that. But Cameron says one

year from when installed. So if we go by one year from when

installed, that would have been November of 2008; correct?

A. That interpretation that we're using of installation date,

as you've shown us, we learned after the fact. So I cannot

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

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really speak to what everybody on the rigs knew at that point

in time.

Q. All right. Let's at least go with what Cameron told

Transocean in May of 2010. We'll talk about what they knew

before in a minute.

But at least as of that time, if we follow Cameron's

recommendations and what it meant, that would mean the blue pod

batteries should be changed out in November of 2008; correct?

A. By the calendar year, had they had that interpretation andyou went strictly by calendar year, yes. But by use, it was

not due to be replaced yet.

Q. Do you know who Mr. Steven Newman is?

A. Yes.

Q. Mr. Newman has testified before this Court as Transocean's

CEO; correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And were you aware that Mr. Newman actually set out to

understand this issue as well: After this incident happened,

what's the policy practice here for replacing batteries?

Were you aware of that?

A. Not directly, no.

Q. Let's look at Exhibit TREX-4306.1.

In forming your engineering opinion as to what

Cameron's bulletin should have meant, did you consult with what

Transocean's senior management thought in connection with

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

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replacing out batteries?

A. This e-mail does not look familiar. I'm struggling

reading it.

Q. Sure. I'm sorry. My apologies.

MS. KARIS: Let's call out the bottom. Actually,

bottom e-mail first, please.

This is Mr. Newman's question. Sorry. There

you go.

BY MS. KARIS:Q. Did you set out to understand what Transocean's CEO and

senior management thought in connection with replacement of

batteries?

A. Well, I did not see this document.

Q. And Mr. Newman is writing on the 13th to Pharr Smith;

correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And who is Mr. Smith; do you know?

A. I know the name. I don't know his position exactly.

Q. He was involved along with Mr. Ambrose in Transocean's

investigation of this incident, the one that you worked on;

correct?

A. Yes. Mr. Ambrose and I worked together.

Q. Mr. Pharr is the one I was talking about. Do you know

whether Mr. Pharr was also involved in the investigation?

A. If he was there, I wasn't around him much. Bill and I,

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

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yes, but not Mr. Pharr.

Q. Mr. Newman writes: "Pharr, I understand as a result of

yesterday's hearing that the batteries on the yellow pod were

dead."

Do you see that?

A. Yes.

Q. It's actually the blue pod batteries that were dead;

correct?

A. Well, it says yellow, so --Q. Fair enough.

MS. KARIS: All right. If you go down to the

fourth -- there you go -- if you can call that out, please.

Thank you.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. And Mr. Newman says: "Are these batteries kept charged as

long as the system is connected?"

And the answer is: "No, these are not rechargeable

batteries. They are replaced once a year or after

32 actuations, whichever comes first."

Correct?

A. You read that correctly.

MS. KARIS: And then if we can go to the response at

the top.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. And to be clear here, Mr. Newman is asking the question

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

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and somebody else is responding to Mr. Newman's question. If

you look at the original, it's in different colored ink.

Mr. Smith responds back and he says: "Steven answers

below from my subsea dynamic duo: Rob Turlak and Gary Leach.

Let us know if you need anything else."

You had not seen this document, though; is that

correct?

A. I had not.

Q. So you were unaware when you reached your opinions thatthe CEO of Transocean had been told by Mr. Pharr, in connection

to the question about battery replacement, that the batteries

are replaced once a year or after 32 actuations; is that

correct?

A. I was not aware of this string of e-mails.

Q. All right. Now, you referenced earlier that this relates

to understanding of the batteries after the incident?

A. Yes.

Q. Did you undertake to look at and evaluate what Transocean

knew about the condition of its batteries prior to this

incident?

A. We looked at the batteries. Of course, they would have

been in place at the time of the incident, yes.

Q. Sure. But did you look, at least, to understand what

documentation Transocean had about understanding the life and

history of its batteries?

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A. Like I just said, yes, we looked at where they were

installed and when they were put into service.

Q. All right.

MS. KARIS: If we can look at D-4334-B.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. And this is a demonstrative we've prepared. To be clear

here, the Deepwater Horizon had three pods, Pod 1, Pod 2, and

Pod 3; is that correct?

A. That is correct.Q. And the blue pod is Pod 3, the yellow pod is Pod 2, and

then there's a spare pod on the surface?

A. That's my recollection.

Q. And what is your understanding of when the blue pod went

into surface -- I mean, went into service and was splashed at

the Macondo well?

A. March '09.

Q. Okay. At the Macondo well, March of '09?

A. Yes. March of '09, the year before the incident.

Q. I don't want to confuse you, Mr. Childs --

A. I'm sorry.

Q. -- but the Deepwater Horizon wasn't at Macondo in March of

'09.

A. I said before.

Q. Do you know when the blue pod went into use and was

splashed at the Macondo well on the Deepwater Horizon?

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A. Oh, you're correct, I did mishear. I wasn't listening

properly.

Q. Fair enough.

A. It was splashed for Macondo March 6th, I think -- 5th,

6th, somewhere in there, of '10.

Q. Are you sure it wasn't in late January -- or early

February, I should say, February 6th?

A. I think it reached -- it reached bottom.

Q. Fair to say you don't remember?A. It reached bottom.

Q. When?

A. Well, I've had a brain issue, obviously.

Q. All right.

A. Forgive me.

Q. You have a chart that says it was in use for 71 days at

Macondo. Does that refresh your recollection?

A. Yes.

Q. All right. We'll get back to how many days it was in use

total. Because as I understand it, the way you reached your

opinion that it was okay or in compliance was by counting the

days it was actually splashed and in use?

A. From the date it was on bottom and armed until the day it

was disarmed and retrieved, yes.

Q. All right. But just to set the groundwork here, Pod 3 --

you see Mr. McWhorter's testimony -- it's very clear that's

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where the blue pod batteries were. No dispute about that;

correct?

A. Excuse me, no.

Q. And Pod 1 is actually the spare pod on surface. Do you

see that?

A. I see that.

Q. All right. Now, were you aware that, in February of 2010,

Transocean had sent the spare pod, the one that was on surface,

to Cameron for refurbishment while the BOP was latched at theMacondo well?

A. I vaguely remember that, yes.

Q. Okay. And so Cameron evaluated the batteries in Pod 1,

the one that was on surface, in February of 2010, a couple

months before this incident?

A. Now, you say Cameron evaluated?

Q. Yes.

A. Yes, I believe that's who they sent the equipment to,

Cameron.

Q. Let's look at TREX-3782.

MS. KARIS: If we go to 3782.2.2.3.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. Have you seen this document previously; that is, Cameron's

evaluation of what the condition was of that spare pod's

batteries?

A. Honestly, it's not looking familiar at this moment.

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Q. All right. I'll represent to you that the spare pod's

batteries had been originally installed in the SEM in April of

2009. Now, in February of 2010, Cameron writes and says: "The

batteries on the Horizon's SEM are not good."

Do you see that?

A. At the bottom, yes, I see that.

Q. And then that communication is forwarded on from Cameron

to Mr. Fry and Mr. Geoff Boughton, correct, at the top?

A. Yes.Q. And so those are gentlemen with Transocean, Mr. Fry and

Mr. Boughton, in their subsea group; correct?

A. I believe that's correct.

Q. Mr. Fry is Transocean's subsea superintendent; is that

correct?

A. He was.

Q. And so he would have had responsibility for maintenance of

the BOP, including the batteries; correct?

A. He's a shore-based man, so the man on the rig really had

the responsibility.

Q. All right. But he oversees the man on the rig?

A. He would assist and advise.

MS. KARIS: All right. And then if we can pull up

TREX-3785.1.1.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. Mr. Fry, a couple days after getting Cameron's e-mail

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informing him that the batteries on the SEM are not good,

forwards the e-mail to Deepwater Horizon subsea SUP. Do you

see that? And that would be superintendent?

A. I believe that's correct.

Q. And the subject is "Battery Replacement."

And he says: "Some reading material for you.

Regards, Michael Fry."

A. Yes.

Q. And what he attaches as part of those reading materials isCameron's bulletin, the one we were looking at previously,

EB 891D; correct?

A. I don't see it yet, but -- oh, there it is. I'm sorry.

It's right there on the attachment, EB 891D.

Q. Correct.

MS. KARIS: And if we can just go to 87 -- I'm sorry,

3785.4.2.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. I'll represent to you that that's what's attached,

Cameron's bulletin. And that's the bulletin that has the

language we were talking about previously.

So a couple months prior to this incident,

Transocean's subsea superintendent, supervisors, and other

members who were responsible for maintenance of the batteries

on the Deepwater Horizon's BOP, again received a copy of

Cameron's bulletin stating that it is recommended that the

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27-volt battery packs be replaced one year of on-time

operation?

A. That's the on-time operation. It's still there.

Q. Not only is it there, but Transocean's subsea folks

received a reminder, if you will, of that a couple of months

before this incident?

A. Of the on-time operation, yes, ma'am.

Q. And they got that bulletin along with a notification that

their spare pod batteries were not good; correct?A. I saw the document you showed me, yes.

Q. All right. Did you see any evidence that Mr. Fry, after

receiving this communication -- or anyone at Transocean

attempted to determine whether the batteries in Pods 2 or 3

were also not good?

A. I didn't see anything more than here. I don't know one

way or the other whether anything else was sent on those

particular things you asked me about.

Q. Well, one of the things you tried to understand here was

what Transocean knew or understood about the blue pod battery;

correct?

A. We wanted to know which SEM was in which pod and when each

SEM was repaired, rebuilt, and put back into service.

Q. And in all of the review that you did of all the documents

and all the materials, did you see anywhere any attempt by

Transocean to understand whether the batteries in Blue Pod 3 or

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Yellow Pod 2 were not good, just as was the case with the spare

pod batteries?

A. Not exactly that answer. What I saw was continual sending

of SEMs to Cameron for refurbishment or pods to Cameron for

refurbishment, which meant getting new batteries, sending them

back to the rigs to go back into service.

Q. Did you see anything like that in connection with Pod 2 or

3 after February of 2010?

A. I couldn't quote which one was 2 or 3 at this moment, butI saw continual movement of these pieces of equipment to

Cameron for repair.

Q. They certainly couldn't have said Pod 2 or 3 because they

were subsea actually, splashed at the time; correct?

A. During --

Q. So there's no way they could have sent those back for

refurbishment?

A. Not the ones in service, you're correct.

Q. Right. So we know they couldn't have sent those SEMs back

because they were sitting 5,000 feet below the surface.

My question is: Did they do anything to try and

understand whether the conditions of those pods' batteries were

any better than the spare pod, which they understood to be not

good?

A. "They," again, are the subsea engineers you're talking

about. I have no recollection one way or the other. I didn't

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see anything one way or the other.

Q. Okay. After Mr. Fry got this communication, are you aware

that he reached out to Mr. Owen -- I'm sorry, to

Mr. McWhorter -- and there's an Owen McWhorter from Transocean,

and then there's a David McWhorter from Cameron, so we're not

confusing the two.

A. I know the difference.

Q. And we're speaking of Mr. Owen McWhorter from Transocean.

Were you aware that Mr. Fry reached out to him to tryand figure out what the life of their batteries was and what

the voltages of any equipment they had was?

A. Not directly. I don't remember that document directly, or

a document like that.

MS. KARIS: Let's look at 3682.1, please. Let's look

at the bottom. Thank you.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. This is from the Deepwater Horizon, Owen McWhorter, if you

look at the bottom there, to Michael Fry. Again, this is

within Transocean. Owen, discussed -- I'm sorry. Let me make

sure we have -- it seems to be -- there's a hole through it. I

can't see the first couple of words there.

MS. KARIS: Do we have it or not?

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. I think it says "as we discussed."

"As we discussed on the phone, here's what I have on

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the blue SEM. Everything else on the page is pressures."

And that's as of February 19th. Do you see that?

A. Yes.

Q. And under "deadman active for the blue SEM," what does it

read?

A. .02-volts.

Q. Now, is it fair to say that, at this time, it was not

possible for Mr. McWhorter to get an actual reading of what the

blue pod SEM voltage was for the 27-volt battery because it wassplashed subsea?

A. I think that's an indication on the surface of the fact

that the deadman was active.

Q. Right. It doesn't tell you anything about the voltage of

that battery; correct?

A. Only that the deadman and blue SEM is active.

Q. Right. But it certainly doesn't tell you anything about

what the voltage is of that battery; correct?

A. I don't think there's any connection except the fact that

it could be turned on, it was active.

Q. All right. Is it fair to say, then, that this document

certainly didn't answer the question of, what's the condition

of -- what's the voltage of the 27-volt battery in the blue

pod?

A. It appears Mr. McWhorter gave him every bit of information

he could from that time. He's on surface -- he's on surface;

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it's not.

Q. But what he wasn't able to do was to tell him what the

condition of that battery was?

A. All he could tell him was that that SEM was active -- or

deadman was active.

Q. Now, when you speak to testing of the -- the various

testing that took place in the BOP. Are you aware of any

testing that was conducted after February 19th of 2010 on -- to

test the AMF/deadman?A. I don't know one way or the other. I know the

full-function tests were done, but I do not have records one

way or the other if the AMF was tested.

Q. The full-function testing does not test the AMF/deadman,

does it?

A. I don't have records one way or the other saying it did or

didn't.

Q. And you don't know, based on your own experience, whether

it was tested?

A. At this point in time in the industry, they weren't

routinely testing AMF.

Q. And as a result of the work you did in connection with the

investigation, did you come to learn when Transocean had last

tested its AMF/deadman to assess the voltage of the batteries

or anything else?

A. I don't have a date for that, no, ma'am.

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

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Q. That's not something you looked into in reaching your

opinions in this case about what testing had been done, even

though you were opining about the batteries?

A. We were looking at the batteries, looking at the

solenoids. I have no record one way or the other on the

testing, the AMF testing.

Q. You say you were looking at the batteries and the

solenoids. You also gave an extensive list in your report of

what testing had been done by Transocean on the BOP; correct?A. Yes.

Q. All right. And so when you looked to see what testing had

been done, did you ever look to see what testing had been done

on the components for which you were rendering opinions?

A. Well, I said that. Yes, we tested the components.

Q. No, what testing Transocean had done by policy.

A. Yes. Transocean did test every component in the pod.

Q. And did you become aware that, at least according to

Mr. Fry in an interview that he gave the investigation team,

Transocean had not tested the AMF/deadman in eight years?

A. I don't remember the eight years.

Q. Okay. We'll get to that.

MS. KARIS: If we can pull up D-6716, please.

Sorry. If we can first start with

TREX-7709.1.4.

UNIDENTIFED SPEAKER: Say it again, Carrie.

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

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MS. KARIS: I'm sorry, 7709.1.4. Thank you.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. Do you recognize this is from Transocean's investigation

work that lays out the history of these batteries, the team you

were involved in?

A. Yes.

Q. I'm not going to go back over it, because I know you were

asked about it previously.

But just to be clear here, this is the document thatestablished that somewhere between November of 2007 -- I'm

sorry -- June of 2007 to November of 2007 Cameron replaced the

batteries in the No. 3 SEM at this time; correct?

A. That is correct.

Q. And then you went on to say --

THE COURT: Ms. Karis, for my sake, remind me again.

We used colors and we used numbers. And the No. 3 is the --

MS. KARIS: The blue pod.

THE COURT: The blue pod. Okay. The No. 2 is the

yellow?

MS. KARIS: Correct.

THE COURT: Does the No. 1, which was not in use,

have a color?

MS. KARIS: It's called "spare."

THE COURT: It's spare. Okay.

THE WITNESS: Sometimes it's called a white, in case

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we see it written elsewhere.

MS. KARIS: So we've got white, yellow, and blue.

THE WITNESS: And a 1, 2, and a 3.

BY MS. KARIS:

Q. So 3 is the one we're talking about in connection with the

batteries that were tested and found by DNV to not have a

sufficient charge.

A. In the blue pod, yes.

Q. And just to be clear here, Cameron replaced thosebatteries sometime between June of 2007 and November of 2007;

correct?

A. Correct. And the footnotes show a full factory acceptance

test was also completed.

Q. Correct. And in March of 2009, when you say "during rig

move, the No. 3 SEM is installed on the blue pod position on

the BOP and fully tested," that's not to suggest that the AMF

was fully tested. It's the BOP that was fully tested; correct?

A. The pod was prepared for deployment, correct.

Q. And then you say the "BOP is splashed, putting the No. 3

SEM into service," in April of 2009."

And that's what you've now come to understand is not

accurate?

A. I would correct that April 2009 there to March 2009.

Q. All right. Because under your prior understanding, if

that installation that we're seeing had occurred in March of

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2009, then at least as of the time of your deposition, you

would have said that would not comply with Cameron's

recommendations for changing the batteries, based on how you

understood it at that time; correct?

A.

March 21, 2013 PM

Documents

Transcript of March 21, 2013 PM