BP Coast Guard?
I got a link off of FaceBook that makes a claim that the US Coast Guard is running interference for those that are trying to report on the BP spill and the oil that is being left on the Gulf. “This is BP’s rules, it’s not ours,”Except that there is more to the story.
Because I was following this on my phone I could not watch the video and it had trouble going to a second link. So I was on the assumption that the reporters where trying to get too close to the original oil platform and the Coast Guard was preventing them from entering the area. But it seems that the Coast Guard was preventing the reports entry into a undetermined gulf coast location. Well maybe it was the Coast Guard.
When CBS tried to film a beach with heavy oil on the shore in South Pass, Louisiana, a boat of BP contractors, and two Coast Guard officers, told them to turn around, or be arrested.
“This is BP’s rules, it’s not ours,” someone aboard the boat said. Coast Guard officials told CBS that they’re looking into it.
So the entire story that claims that the that the US Coast Guard is trying run interference for BP is based on the claim that two people on the boat were USCG Officers. Yep that’s it. We also know that people never lie about military or government service.
But that is not stopping people from accepting that as gospel.
This is wrong in so many ways I hardly know where to start. What happened to laws about free access to navigable waters? Since when does BP get to arbitrarily impose LAW on free U.S. citizens? Why are the Coast Guard, a branch of our Armed Forces taking orders from a FOREIGN company?
Also considering that BP made public a video of the underground oil pipe break almost a full week before this story came out. What did people think BP was trying to hide. I mean really.
Category: Link fest, Media, Military issues, Society
Thanks for posting on this matter. I’d like to share with your readers our response to those who believe we would restrict media access to response activities:
Neither BP nor the Coast Guard, who are responding to the spill, have any rules in place that prohibit media access to impacted areas and we were disappointed to hear of this incident. In fact, media have been actively embedded and allowed to cover response efforts since this response began, with more than 400 embeds aboard boats and aircraft to date. On the day the story ran alone, 16 members of the press observed cleanup operations on a vessel out of Venice, La.
The only time anyone would be asked to move from an area would be if there were safety concerns, or they were interfering with response operations. This did occur off South Pass Monday which may have caused the confusion reported by CBS today.
The entities involved in the Deepwater Horizon/BP Response have already reiterated these media access guidelines to personnel involved in the response, and hope that it prevents any future confusion.
Respectfully,
Chris O’Neil
Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Coast Guard
Chief of Media Relations (CG-09222)
This is an official United States Coast Guard posting for the public’s information. Our posting does not endorse this site or anything on it, including links to other sites, and we disclaim responsibility and liability for the site and its content.
I would be MUCH more concerned with the interactions between BP and the current administration than the actual oil spill.
That is NOT to say I am not concerned about the spill and the resulting problems it presents.
My concern is that BP gave it’s largest political donations to Barrack Obama, and after he became president, his administration seemed to gundeck any permits, inspections, licensing, etc, for this specific rig.
There is a quid pro quo present, and it is, even on the surface, orders of magnitude above anything related to Hurricane Katrina.
I emailed this to BP around 6/3/10. The main problem is that I don’t know how to rapidly get this simple plan to anyone that could make a difference. It needs to be read by BP and implemented or an explanation given as to why it would not work. How can I get this message noticed? I don’t particularly care who gets credit for it, but that leak should have been stopped weeks ago. The plan: Fabricate and place into the well pipe a long, heavy steel device, somewhat pointed for ease of insertion, and gradually tapering as it approaches the inside diameter of the pipe and continuing tapering to a size larger than the inside diameter of the leaking pipe. The leak would be slowed down or stopped immediately. It would look like an elongated plum bob. Once inserted, its shape would guide it further down into the pipe. Once it has dropped down to its stopping point inside the pipe it’s shape would seal off the flow a lot or at least slow the flow significantly and maybe even stop it completely. It needs to be heavy enough to counteract the pressure, but light enough not to damage the pipe. If the pipe is sawed off fairly flat it will be best. The longer it is the more it could extend below the ocean floor and the more lateral stability it would give to the pipe. If too top heavy especially above the ocean floor, it could possibly cause the pipe to tilt, or bend. To save time, a simple crude device of this type could be fabricated quickly, used initially and if necessary replaced by an improved version later. It should also include a way to pump mud into it to seal any remaining leaks, and even a way to pump oil out. The main thing is to get it stopped. If necessary, the top part of it could even include a cap to fit over the outside of the pipe but it may complicate things. In my opinion, the term “CAP” is causing a lot of… Read more »