Whistleblower Group Sues To Find Out Why Administration Lowballed BP Oil Spill Estimatesby Dan Froomkin
First Posted: 09-16-10 02:03 PM | Updated: 09-16-10 02:03 PM
What led Obama administration officials to wildly understate the size of the BP oil spill until it was all over? Was it just a series of honest mistakes? Or was science being manipulated for political purposes?
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Several more estimates ensued. Finally in early August, after the well was capped, the government announced that the daily flow had ranged from about 62,000 barrels at the beginning of the spill to about 53,000 barrels a day at the end -- making it the worst accidental offshore oil spill in the planet's history. Administration officials have never explained why their estimates were so far off, or why they spun them in a way to even further minimize them.
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A similar mystery to that which surrounds the flow rate estimates involves the administration's public release in early August of a report based on an internal "oil budget calculator" that had been put together in a hurry and solely to provide general guidance to the emergency response. Instead, the report was released with great fanfare, media appearances and a White House press conference -- and top administration officials cited its conclusions as evidence that "the vast majority of the oil is gone".
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Several documents show administration officials consulting each other regarding the best way to duck questions from reporters -- one of those reporters being me.
More:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/16/group-sues-to-find-out-wh_n_719628.html
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