In recent weeks, reporters and photographers for major news organizations around the country have been speaking out about the attempts by BP to prevent them from getting a first-hand look at the Gulf Coast oil spill. A CBS News crew was threatened with arrest when it tried to photograph the spill, and a BP representative in Louisiana told a Mother Jones reporter that she couldn’t visit the Elmer’s Island Wildlife Refuge without a BP escort. TP has the story in this repost.
On Monday, journalists from the New York Daily News were also “escorted away from a public beach on Elmer’s Island bycops who said they were taking orders from BP.” However, they managed to get a covert tour of the Queen Bess barrier island from a BP contractor who is fed up with the oil company’s attempt to cover up the disaster:
“There is a lot of coverup for BP. They specifically informed us that they don’t want these pictures of the dead animals. They know the ocean will wipe away most of the evidence. It’s important to me that people know the truth about what’s going on here,” the contractor said.
“The things I’ve seen: They just aren’t right. All the life out here is just full of oil. I’m going to show you what BP never showed the President.” [...]
The grasses by the shore were littered with tarred marine life, some dead and others struggling under a thick coating of crude.
“When you see some of the things I’ve seen, it would make you sick,” the contractor said. “No living creature should endure that kind of suffering.”
“BP is going to say the deaths of these animals wasn’t oil-related,” the contractor added. “We know the truth. I hope these pictures get to the right people “” to someone who can do something.”
Today, the International Bird Rescue Research Center released new figures on the number of animals that have been reported to the Unified Area Command from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the affected region. The numbers include 779 dead birds, sea turtles, or mammals (not all showed visible oil signs), and another 108 that were “visibly oiled” but still alive.
A new CNN report shows some disgusting images of the oil on the shore of the Gulf Coast, and notes that some people “” including children “” are still unaware of the dangers of the oil and are swimming in the polluted water:
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Over on Thinkprogress, several folks were reacting strongly to claim about the local cops “taking orders from BP.” When did tax payed, public law enforcement become a private security force?
This disaster is really illuminating how retrograde and corrupt our culture has become and, consequentially, ill equipped we are for the huge challenges ahead. *sigh*
There were also claims about BP and the US Coast Guard chasing oil scavengers away who can supposedly suck up the water and get some of the oil out in usable form that could be sold on the black market? Is there any credibility to this, or typical internet rumor? If there is any truth to it–I agree with others that in this case the scavengers should be welcomed. F*** BP’s profits at this moment. Get as much of that crap out of the water by the least toxic means possible and as quickly as possible. Or are there fears that scavengers will lead to violence between ships and crews in the gulf?
Brilliant strategy, because if they can just keep pictures of anything bad away from the public, then they will never remember the name BP and associate it with a major Gulf of Mexico catastrophe for decades, if not the end of human existence. Like Exxon Valdez.
I’m going to purely speculate that BP has convinced local law enforcement that “the public” must be kept away from certain areas because they are not “trained” or “equipped” to handle hazardous material (oil etc.) nor trained etc. to handle oiled wildlife.
Which is true but absurd, and I suspect is being used to prevent documentation of the damage. It also interferes with the systems set up to report wildlife to the rehab groups set up down there.
No doubt BP’s PR damage-limitation folks are well aware of the devastating impact of even a little bit of film of a creature literally drowning in oil. The last section of the documentary-recreation of BP’s Alaska disaster (now we come to find out) after the Exxon Valdez disaster–”Dead Ahead”–is actual video taken by an Alaskan environmental official and some bright person ought to take that section and post it to utube, and label it “what oil spills do to wildlife out of sight”.
I hope that AG Holder will be having attempted cover ups investigated. Stories of press investigations being stopped under color of law sound like RICO violations to me if nothing else more specific.
This is one reason why dispersants were so heavily used–out of sight, out of mind.
It’s going to take some new, toothy legislation to get “Beyond Petroleum.” Wildlife, water quality and human health professionals doing damage assessments will be outmaneuvered by corporate lawyers as they were in Exxon Valdez unless the leadership of this beleaguered country gets enough backbone to give them the tools they need plus gives them unwavering support. The other half of getting “Beyond Petroleum” is just that–reasonable support and funding for alternative energies that don’t endanger the future is the only way to get beyond petroleum.
This spill has already become President Obama’s “Jimmy Carter” moment.
He won’t be able to shake it off because the leak will continue for months longer and through the worst of the hurricane season.
BP is his worst enemy with its distorted view of how angry Americans have become towards the company, its PR spinning and clumsy, inept containment and cleanup. I predict this spill will be front page news as the President begins his re-election campaign. Republicans will tie it around the Pesident’s neck and paint this catastrophe as, once again, America held hostage.
Have you notice that there have been no updates to Dr. Joye’s gulf oil blog in the past 3 days?
http://gulfblog.uga.edu/
There have been updates at the ‘News” link at her blog. ABC video and official news.
I surely hope that the reason is that she’s been too busy, not because she’s been silenced.
When you put the pieces of this together, it forms a picture that is hard to believe. This morning Dr. Riki Ott, marine biologist and Alaska “fisherma’am” (her term), told Thom Hartmann that the pilot of a plane she had chartered wouldn’t go where she wanted to because BP had expanded its flight restrictions.
This makes me want to swear in print. How in the hell can BP issue restrictions on U.S. airspace?
Chris Dudley, you’ve got it right: There are more than enough grounds for the Attorney General to start criminal investigations.
Obviously Dr. Joye’s research is not being silenced because she’s interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered.
The interview should be available at their site. NPR.org Yes, there are oily plumes down there.
I thought we slaughtered tens of thousands of Brits to ensure that they would no longer rape our natural resources, and blind our free press using guns and intimidation.
These cops sound like a few stray redcoats we forgot to take care of in the 18th century. The press should combine amendments I and II, arm themselves and resist this dictate from the British.
If anyone who reads this story EVER buys BP gasoline again, then frankly, they are a traitor.
It’s discusting the way BP has handled this spill. The gross negligence of their so called clean up and containment effert is a joke to mother nature. How dare obama believe anything thing that BP states and is willing to show him. What kind of person would just believe at face value anything that comes out of this oil companies spokepersons mouth. Why wont they let the american public on these public beaches why won’t they let people who care about life onto that refuge so they can save whats lert. CLEARLY BP CAN NEVER DO ENOUGH GOOD TO MAKE UP FOR THE DESTUCTION AND MASS MURDER OF MARINE LIFE AND COASTEL WILD LIFE. BP YOU ARE A SERIAL KILLER IN THE POOL OF LIFE. HOPEFULLY YOU WILL BE PUT OUT OF BUSINESS. I KNOW I WILL NEVER BUY FUEL FROM YOU AGAIN EVEN IF YOUR THE CHEAPEST GAS IN TOWN I WILL PAY TRIPLE THE AMOUNT AT ANOTHER STATION MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY HAVE AGREED TO DO THE SAME. WE WONT EVEN BUY GOODS FROM A CONVIENENT STORE THAT SELLS YOUR GAS. YOUR JUDMENTMNET WILL COME WETHER IT BE BY GOD OR THE PEOPLE THAT LOVE THIS EARTH.
MONEY GRUBBINNG EARTH DESTROYER.
may the same mercy be shown to you that you have shown to sea life.