Fired BP worker files whistleblower suit...

[Indi Guy]

[div class="excerpt"A Covington man who helped develop oil spill cleanup plans for BP has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the oil giant, alleging that he was fired for telling federal overseers that his bosses were falsifying data to make it look like Mississippi beaches were cleaner than they really were. August Walter Jr.'s allegations before U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans come more than a year after oil from BP's blown-out well came ashore. They also follow BP's spending of $14 billion on cleanup operations that have cleared all but a few miles of oiled beach.

But Walter claims that just last fall, BP was refusing to pick up oiled debris on beaches and islands and then falsely reporting the areas were clean, all in an effort to wrap up its responsibilities early and leave the remaining cleanup to the Coast Guard.

BP spokesman Tom Mueller said the company doesn't believe Walter's complaint has merit, but promised to "investigate the allegations contained in his complaint, consistent with our personnel policies and code of conduct. We believe we have demonstrated good faith in meeting our obligations in the Gulf and are committed to treating our employees fairly."

Walter spent three years as emergency preparedness manager for the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve until he left in 2010 to become state planning lead for BP's cleanup operations, said his attorney, James Arruebarrena. The lawsuit says that Walter discovered BP's Mississippi operation was taking shortcuts -- refusing, for instance, to clear smaller oiled debris while removing larger tar balls from beaches along the Gulf Islands National Seashore -- and he was reprimanded by BP bosses when he tried to report the true status of the cleanup.

[Remember Me]

1. could use a link --