Dan Thomas: Reporter Prohibited From Digging For Evidence Of Oil Spill Beneath Sand On Gulf Beach

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Huffington Post

Dan Thomas: Reporter Prohibited From Digging For Evidence Of Oil Spill Beneath Sand On Gulf Beach
Posted: 09-21-10 04:07 PM

A WEAR ABC 3 crew recently went to Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida to check on the state of the beaches in the wake of the Gulf oil spill.

Reporter Dan Thomas brought a shovel to check for oil underneath the sand, but was promptly stopped by Pat Gonzalez of U.S. Fish and Wildlife who told him he needed a permit to dig. When Gonzalez asked if Thomas was digging for "oil product," Thomas said, "Not necessarily. I just want to see what's there." Gonzalez immediately replied, "Okay, I'll tell you what. If you're not going to cooperate with me I'm going to get a National Parks Service officer out here. I'll get a law enforcement guy out here to talk to you."

Told that he could dig further down the beach, Thomas and his crew moved on to do just that. But moments after his shovel hit the sand, he was approached by a National Parks Service police officer who asked for "press documents," claiming it was illegal for them to film in a national park unless they could prove they were with the media.

After providing his press pass, the officer, A. Negron, told Thomas that he couldn't dig in a national park, insisting that the law even applied to building sand castles.



Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/21/dan-thomas-reporter-prohi_n_733692.html

[HereSince1628]

1. This is how you look like you having NOTHING to hide!!!!!

It's all about being a GOOD officer and enforcing well known and accepted rules and regulations: Rule 1: Don't Embarrass your boss. Rule 2 if you don't know who the boss is return to rule 1.

[Atman]

2. They showed this months back...BP just covered up the oil

That's why no reporters have been allowed near. They spent the nighttime hours trucking in sand and simply burying the oil. It was way easier than actually trying to scoop it up. ALL BP EXECS SHOULD BE IN JAIL.

.

[FiveGoodMen]

3. Impossible

There's no way you could ever get this many people involved in a conspiracy.

[Raster]

4. You forgot your "sarcasm" tag.

[FiveGoodMen]

10. I figured the sarcasm was pretty obvious without the tag.

[Raster]

16. One would think so...

[jberryhill]

5. What is the general rule on digging with shovels in national parks?

[Prometheus Bound]

9. According to the Gulf Islands Superintendent, no problem. The field staff were wrong.

Dan Brown/Gulf Islands Superintendent: "There's no regulation or anything that would prohibit people from digging other than for the things already mentioned that would disturb natural and cultural features."

http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wear_vid_10993.shtml

[jberryhill]

13. So are they headed back out there?

I would imagine that heading into a National Wildlife Refuge with a shovel would pretty much attract ranger attention under any circumstances.

Now that it has been straightened out, I presume the crew will be back?

[Prometheus Bound]

17. May I suggest you send them an email?

If you really want to know.

[seattleblue]

6. Looks like BP is still running things at all levels. Amazing.

[EFerrari]

7. Welcome to Haiti.

So, we can carry guns in National parks but not cameras? Or are the rules now whatever Officer Fife is told by BP that day?

[nosmokes]

8. I reckon it's official. The US government is now a wholly owned subsidiary of

the international conglomerate made up of big oil,pharma, the military industrial complex and the banksters.

[jberryhill]

11. NPS permits for commercial filming

I haven't found the excavation regulations yet, but here are the permit fees for commercial filming.

http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/permits.cfm?urlarea=permits

[nosmokes]

12. despite being a cash cow, news is not considered commercial filming but

falls under public service.

[RaleighNCDUer]

18. Commercial filming is not news filming.

That's why they were asked for their press credentials. So far as I know there are no restrictions on news crews filming on Federal land (outside restricted areas, of course), and the 'commercial filming' applies only to filming connected with a product - whether it's a commercial advertising, or a film to be released for profit, documentary, fiction, TV show, whatever.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

14. Park Service and Fish and wildlife thwarting discovery of pollution. Um, but seriously,

WTF?

There is something very, very, wrong here.

[The abyss]

15. Recommend +1

Good to see this story holding in LBN.


Good luck!

[autorank]

19. Concealing evidence as proof of guilt

But of what? At least a cover up.