BP information black out spreads like oil spill

[suffragette]

http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2010/bp_info_blackout

At the community centre, representatives of American’s Small Business Administration explain the terms of 30 year loans to motel owners, restaurateurs, and fishermen who will take the financial brunt of the Deepwater Horizion blowout, while a BP representative sits behind her table with a taciturn look, staring out at the beautiful day beyond the fluorescent lights and air conditioning of the lobby.

~~~

“I can’t confirm anything. I have no comment,” she says, her voice rising. She stands and walks away from her table. Moments later she reappears with a police officer who asks Bellona Web to leave the building. The officer says to talk to area BP PR chief Guy Rozas, who can be found at town hall.

~~~


After several messages, nether Lips nor Rozas returned calls. A Town Hall official formally apologized for the police intervention at the community centre, but said, “What can you do? We don’t control this community now, they (the oil companies) do.”

~~~

Meanwhile, groups that have been called in to verify sea life casualties have routinely been turned away from the sites where they may find dead wildlife.

The International Bird Rescue Research Centre, which was hired by Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, Inc on behalf of BP, has complained of an overly bureaucratic process that hinders their access to federally managed areas to look for injured birds.

“We feel like we’ve been wasted,” said Jay Holcomb, director of The International Bird Rescue Research Centre.





Much more info at that site. They have the occasional translation glitch, understandable since they are a Norway-based environmental group.
Some serious local, investigative reporting there, though.

[Catherina]

1. I feel like screaming

:wtf: "We don’t control this community now, they (the oil companies) do."

[suffragette]

18. Right there with you

[Angry Dragon]

2. It seems that bp has declared martial law

[Swamp Rat]

3. k&r

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. We need that on a buimper sticker, Swampy.

You think maybe a decal or flag?
would many folks in your area display it?

And yes, I am dead serious.

[suffragette]

21. Thanks Swamp Rat

You captured the essence in that image.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Jsut the way info. was controlled after Katrina, and in Iraq, and.......

[donco6]

5. Not gonna say it, not gonna say it . . . n/t

[suffragette]

6. Yep, including the "embedded" reporters

This article certainly shows a different view than those from possible embeds.

It was extremely challenging to pick out those paragraphs. There is soooo much more there.


edited for typo

[chill_wind]

7. K & R. n/t

[donco6]

8. Everyone needs to see this article K&R

This demonstrates the character of the company we're depending on to solve this problem. They have no interest in anything other than covering their own backside.

[suffragette]

12. Here's a companion piece

from HuffPo, by an oil and gas industry veteran.

The author is coming from a very different background, but with a similar take. And, yeah, both demonstrate the character of BP:


Robert L. Cavnar

BP's Story Changes Again -- Top Kill Delayed, Less Oil Being Recovered
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-l-cavnar/bps-story-changes-again_b_586051.html

An incident of this magnitude is certainly difficult to manage; no one is arguing that point. What I continue to observe, though, is that many of BP's missteps are occurring because there is so little real information being disclosed. Their message has been so tightly controlled that some spokespersons are being caught being just a little too forthcoming, only to be jerked back by the tight leash being held by BP in London. Senior management is so tone deaf that they have taken on the "Don't you worry your head, little lady, it's too complicated for you to understand" attitude, treating readily available information, such as flow and pressures as some mysterious, unobtainable number, heavily editing video feeds and withholding actual technical data. That leads to frustration of the general public, but drives those of us in the industry crazy, knowing that they have a lot more information than what they're disclosing.

Oil on the beach and interminable delays, in addition to dozens of "press briefings" where nothing is really said, has fed a growing frustration in the press and fear among the public that BP either doesn't know what it's doing, or is not being honest. I believe that both are actually true. BP doesn't want to say how bad things really are, trying to protect itself and is having a serious problem deciding how it's going to kill this beast.

[slay]

9. “What can you do? We don’t control this community now, they (the oil companies) do.”

pretty much says it all. it's us versus the corporations now. and i don't like our odds. :(

[suffragette]

16. Long odds, to be sure

:(

[drm604]

10. This is way beyond unacceptable.

This has to stop NOW! This is bullshit. This is the fox watching the hen house.

BP CANNOT be allowed to control information on this. They CANNOT be allowed to hide the damage. We CANNOT allow corporate lawyers to decide what we see and hear. :grr:

[suffragette]

13. +1,000

:hi:

[newthinking]

11. Amazing isn't it. Is this a democratic country?

Are people "getting it" yet? Our deeper problems are not "right vs left", they are the loss of democracy, transparency, and the increase of propaganda.

[madrchsod]

14. do`t worry..obama`s hand picked corporate stooges are on the job.

it`s really amazing the corporate shills he has working for him. we thought "brownie" was bad just wait till these guys get done.

[laughingliberal]

15. Whatever happened to the people's right to know? No surprise here. nt

[Bluebear]

17. KICK for truth

[donco6]

20. And these are the guys whose primary goal is to stop the leak.

Baloney. Their main goal, make no mistake, is to cover their asses. Period.

[blindpig]

22. Authority is utterly failing us.

It is time for people to brush authority aside, force them to arrest us, overrun the bastards and get qualified people into the field to report the truth.

We are being treated like stupid children.