Gazprom denies it was at fault and blames the explosion on poor maintenance of the pipeline.

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"Often false alarms are caused by poor management or maintenance of alarm systems, " he said.

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Concrete cancer, poor maintenance and the vandalism of social discontent have had their way - down it will come.

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Studies of the blowout preventer's two control pods suggest that a flattish battery and a dodgy valve meant that neither was in a fit state to close off the well automatically when they should have, which BP takes as evidence of poor maintenance by Transocean.

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"The most pressing problem is that the mechanical and electrical systems are in a poor state of repair, which is why we have embarked on a five-year programme of aggressive maintenance to mitigate against the most serious equipment failures, " he said.

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"Issues on top of people's minds on the doorstep include the very poor road maintenance which is not being tackled by the county council, " she said.

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But firms may overlook some of the potential drawbacks when making the decision to outsource, such as poor infrastructure, higher turnover in the workforce and a lack of local suppliers and maintenance services.

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In the early 1990s, Congress asked questions about its poor serviceability record but the air force complained that this was mainly due to a lack of funding for maintenance.

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