A Sea in Flames - Carl Safina [83]
The events prompted Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to say, “All of these guys could use a better PR adviser.”
Yes, Tony Hayward has his life back, but Gulf people are saying things like “I see my life ruined. There ain’t no shrimping, there ain’t no crabbing, there ain’t no oystering. Well, the only thing I know is shrimping. That’s all I know. Now, you tell me: Where do I go from here?” The owner of a seafood company that normally ships fifteen million pounds a year gets up in the morning, walks to his empty warehouse, trudges back again, sits down in front of the TV, and stares at CNN’s oil spill coverage; then he heads back to the warehouse. “I’m just walking around in a circle,” he says. “I never been this confused in my life.” In the U.S. House of Representatives, while speaking to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a Lousiana congressman breaks down in tears. He’s not alone. A fisherman in his fifties explains, “We start talking, and before you know it, we’re all crying. Tough men, you know? Tough as they come. Just break down and cry.”
Fisherman: “The first thing I’d like to do is punch that CEO in the mouth. That’d make me feel a little bit better, I guess.”
Social worker: “There’s breaking points for people. You look at some of these people and you wonder, when is that person going to snap?”
People snap differently. In Alabama, at least one fisherman, despondent, chooses to make his final exit while sitting aboard his beloved boat.
And as one takes his life and one gets his life back, BP decides that an American, Bob Dudley, will replace Tony Hayward. Dudley spent much of his childhood in Mississippi.
Various people in the news media continue to complain about hassles with BP’s private guards and about cops and sheriffs’ departments doing BP’s bidding in clear violation of public rights of freedom of movement on public property. Weeks ago, on June 6, Thad Allen had told ABC News, “I put out a written directive and I can provide it for the record that says the media will have uninhibited access anywhere we’re doing operations, except for two things: if it’s a security or safety problem. That is my policy. I’m the national incident commander.” So there you have it. He’s the decider.
The memo, signed by Allen on May 31 and sent to various government entities and to BP, says: “In any matter whatsoever, and at any level of the response, the media shall, at all times, be afforded access to response operations and shall only be asked to leave an area when their presence is in violation of an existing law or regulation, clearly violates the written site safety plan for the area or interferes with effective operations.”
Allen’s memo says, “the media.” I’d have preferred it to also say the public, because people who work for conservation groups, scientists, book writers, freelance or part-time photographers, fishermen who know the area, and folks like that don’t have media IDs. Later down the memo says, “No contractor, civilian employee or other responder involved in the Deepwater Horizon response has the authority to deny media access to operations except as noted in paragraph one.” That’s pretty clear. And the intent is clear.
Okay, great. Now let’s see the directive in action. On June 22, weeks after Allen’s “uninhibited access” order, Mother Jones magazine’s website posts a video of a “law officer” hassling a guy from the American Birding Association for filming the exterior of a BP office building from across the street. Andrew Wheelan was not on BP’s property at the time, but the law officer nevertheless carries out BP’s intimidation program:
Wheelan: “Am I violating any laws or anything like that?”
Guard: “Um … not particularly. BP doesn’t want people filming.”
Wheelan: “Well, I’m not on their property so BP doesn’t have anything to say about what I do right now.”
Guard: “Let me explain: BP doesn’t want any filming. So all I can really do is strongly suggest