Judge: Cement specialist can testify

A federal judge will allow a Halliburton cement specialist at the heart of decisions that led to the blowout of a BP-owned well in 2010 to testify — against the wishes of BP.

Jesse Gagliano, who worked on the well’s cementing job, was interviewed by a congressional committee and testified before a government panel probing the disaster. But in May 2011, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to be questioned under oath for the litigation. He has been identified as a possible subject of a Justice Department criminal investigation of the disaster.

On Jan. 13, Gagliano agreed to be questioned by civil attorneys.

BP argued against letting Gagliano testify so close to the trial, claiming it would give Halliburton a strategic advantage.

On Feb. 3, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sally Shushan ruled that Gagliano could withdraw his Fifth Amendment privilege and testify. He is expected to be deposed Feb. 7 and 8.

Shushan is handling many of the day-to-day proceedings for U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who is presiding over a bench trial slated to begin Feb. 27 in New Orleans. The first phase of the trial over the spill will focus on what caused the April 20, 2010 blowout that killed 11 workers and led to the release of more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

BP and its two primary contractors — Halliburton, the company hired to seal the well with cement, and Transcoean Ltd., the drilling rig owner — are sparring over whose decisions led to the disaster.

Gagliano was Halliburton’s lead cementing specialist.

—Associated Press