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BP Oil Spill and the Failed Federal Response Raises the Ghost of Katrina
By The Anglo American | July 13, 2010
BP’s high risk 18ft “three ram capping stack”. BP’s senior Vice President, Kent Wells said “hope and pray.”
US news media reporting from the Gulf is, sadly, disappointing. Their collective failure was never to move beyond being ciphers for a finger-pointing President. Perhaps the word “anchor” is more closely linked to the marine deadweight than all the US news organizations could have realized. All, that is, except one……….
BP’s Response Convoy.
C-Span. No, you read that correctly, C-Span. While you could chop channels as much as your indented finger could muster on the remote, the only thing would change was the presenter. Who would have thought which the news channel you choose to watch comes down to your presenter preference? Perhaps you like them to be blond, wear a suit or maybe dress casual. Perhaps you have gender preference or you secretly {or not so secretly} know your presenter’s gender preference?
That is the only difference between all the news organizations reporting in the Gulf. Except one…C-Span. No, you read that correctly, C-Span.
Yes, C-Span whose yearly budget is less than what they pay just one of these albatrosses, had the scoop - an original news story.
C-Span put a camera into one of the BP’s three Gulf Command Posts along the Gulf coast. And the story was not about an overpaid narcissistic anchor because there was no anchor. With the superfluous ego removed, the camera, refreshingly, followed one of the center’s commanders. And there were three revelations:
Inside the Incident Command Post, Houma, Louisiana.
Firstly, this is the large and highly effective, 24 hours a day, Incident Command Post in Houma, Louisiana operated and paid for by BP. It oversees all aspects of the crisis from coordinating compensation for local businesses to coordinating the clear-up at sea and on land. You could not help but feel BP were giving it their all and the commitment by the company, and its people, to the region was impressive. BP was not going through the motions. There was integrity here.
Secondly, the impressive way that the Coastguard had integrated itself into the Command Post. The Coastguard was working hand-in-glove with BP employees. To the viewer, they were virtually indistinguishable.
US Coastguard commander Thad Allen explained what the Coast Guard was doing there and how they had vastly improved the operational effectiveness of the center. You could feel that the two vastly different groups respect each other’s skills and what they brought to the crisis. Both on the same side, they are fighting the same problem. Unlike the President, the Coast Guard is not at war with BP.
Admiral Thad Allen
Thirdly, that is it! There is nobody else. BP and the Coastguard are fighting the mother of all oil crises on their own. Where is the rest of the Government?
The Governor for Alabama, Bob Riley, knows the answer to this. All the government agencies attend the Unified Command Center - all with the power of Veto. Riley says there is nobody in charge.
Months have now passed and while BP and the Coastguard get on with it, the federal government, through its agencies, pontificates and prevaricates.
The President is not on top of his game?
Not a lot has changed since Hurricane Katrina then?
And all the news organizations missed the story and the tragedy of it. Except one…..C-Span. No, you read that correctly, C-span - offering a public service.
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July 14th, 2010 at 8:33 am
Go fix it yourself if you don’t like how BP’s handling the disaster.