The oil giant BP has admitted it proceeded with work on the underwater oil well in the Gulf of Mexico shortly before last month’s explosion despite warning signs of a major problem. In a briefing to lawmakers, BP said it may have made a “fundamental mistake” in its work on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the hours before the explosion. BP faces a pivotal day today as it attempts a so-called “top kill” maneuver to choke off the gushing oil by pumping heavy drilling mud and cement into the mile-deep well. On Tuesday, the eleven workers who died in the rig explosion were remembered at a memorial service in Jackson, Mississippi. Chris Rivers, who runs a company that employed some of the workers, was among those to speak.

Chris Rivers: “These men were brave and courageous. We make too little of achievements in technology these days. We make too much of people who get their name in lights or on a scoreboard. We forget that some jobs require a little bit more inside than others. These exceptional men had that little bit more inside. These men are heroes, all eleven of them.”