The Oil Spill Commission will unveil on Nov. 8 a three-dimensional, computerized depiction by Pixar Animation Studios of how BP's Macondo oil well failed on April 20, resulting in explosions that killed 11 workers and led to the nation's worst-ever oil spill, the commission's co-chairmen said Monday. The graphics are being donated by Pixar, famous for motion pictures ranging from "Toy Story" to "WALL.E," and is aimed at better explaining "the actual things that went wrong in the hours surrounding the explosion," said former Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, a Democrat and one of the co-chairmen of the commission. The presentation is likely to confirm the findings of various investigations into the well failure, said co-chairman William Reilly, who was the first administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Richard Nixon. The conclusions are based on testimony and interviews with rig workers and industry executives by the commission's staff, a process that Reilly said was successful despite the commission's lack of subpoena power. Reilly said that commission chief counsel Fred Bartlit, whom he described as "John Wayne in pinstripes," made it clear to prospective witnesses that it was in their best interest to cooperate. If they didn't, Bartlit told them, the ...
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