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Oil Spill Media Access: Reporters Still Given the Runaround Even as Public Health Concerns Mount
The latest chapter in the media's ongoing struggle to cover the Gulf Oil Spill comes courtesy of PBS Newshour's Bridget Desimone, who has been working with her colleague, Betty Ann Bowser, in "reporting the health impact of the oil spill in Plaquemines Parish." Desimone reports that on the ground, officials are generally doing a better job answering inquiries and granting access to the clean-up efforts.
In this May 30, 2010 file photo, BP PLC CEO Tony Hayward's reflection is seen in the lens of a TV camera as he talks to reporters while visiting a Coast Guard command center in Venice, La. Despite promises of transparency, the U.S. government continues to hamper media coverage of the worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. history. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) But Desimone and Bowser have encountered one "roadblock" that they've
struggled to overcome: access to a "federal mobile medical unit" in
Venice, Louisiana: "The glorified double-wide trailer sits on a spit of
newly graveled land known to some as the "BP compound." Ringed with
barbed wire-topped chain link fencing, it's tightly restricted by police
and private security guards."
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services set up the facility on May 31. According to a press release, the medical unit is staffed by "a medical team from the HHS National Disaster Medical System -- a doctor, two nurses, two emergency medical technician paramedics (EMT-P) and a pharmacist."For over two weeks, my NewsHour colleagues and I reached out to media contacts at HHS, the U.S. Coast Guard and everyone listed as a possible media contact for BP, in an attempt to visit the unit and get a general sense of how many people were being treated there , who they were and what illnesses they had. We got nowhere. It was either "access denied," or no response at all. It was something that none of us had ever encountered while covering a disaster. We're usually at some point provided access to the health services being offered by the federal government.
From there, Desimone describes the runaround she and Bowser were treated to, in terms with which you are no doubt familiar with by now. When Desimone finally got to speak with Ron Burger, the "Medical Unit Operations Chief for HHS's National Disaster Medical System," she was told that the facility had been treating responders and could not or would not confirm or deny that any area residents had been treated there or turned away.
Concerns over public health in the Gulf region run high. Experts in the field have called for a "coordinated approach to monitoring and researching affected populations." And residents of the region continue to worry about the near-term effects of the clean-up effort and the long-term health impact the oil spill will have on the seafood. They have good reason to be concerned:
One of the first things BP did after oil started gushing into the Gulf was to spray more than 1.1 million gallons of a dispersant with the optimistic name "Corexit" onto the oil. Then BP hired Louisiana fishermen and others to help with cleanup and containment operations. About two weeks later, over seventy workers fell sick, complaining of irritated throats, coughing, shortness of breath and nausea. Seven workers were hospitalized on May 26. Workers were engaged in a variety of different tasks in different places when they got sick: breaking up oil sheen, doing offshore work, burning oil and deploying boom. BP officials speculated that their illnesses were due to food poisoning or other, unrelated reasons, but others pointed out how unlikely these other causes were, since the sick workers were assigned to different locations.
Burger also told Desimone that the facility was being run under the auspices of the "national contingency plan." I'll remind you for the eleventy billionth time that National Incident Commander Thad Allen specifically directed officials on the ground to grant access to the media, in what appears to be the most widely unheard or ignored set of orders in the world.
37 Comments so far
Show AllWhat's the shock here? This is exactly how Fascism is supposed to work. Just count yourselves lucky that you didn't get beaten, tasered and arrested by the US Gestapo for inconveniencing a coporate stooge.
Why on earth would anyone go to these places for medical care? They obviously still believe the authorities are here to help us.
Plus zero accountability. What is it that they are really doing to the people, if any, that go there for "care"? Reminds me of episodes of the x-files. My guess is that if there is no public accountibilty, the govt and BP could just as easily be doing bizarre experiments on those suffering from oil poisoning.
if workers aren't 'allowed' to talk to media, what would make us think they are 'allowed' to seek medical help anywhere else but the company store???
"Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are."
Obama is in charge behind all those fancy titles.
Why doesn't "Move-on" step in and tell the people that
Obama is not with us.
MoveOn turned into an Obama rubber stamp/worship organization. They were so tickled that the Health Care initiative passed that they ignored the fact that it really didn't do a whole lot for anyone except the extremely poor, leaving the middle class out completely with a few exceptions of pre-existing conditions, but who it helped the most are the health care corporations which have gouged everyone for decades.
What was most MoveOn members' responses? "At least it's a start." To which I posed the question, if you can't pass single payer health care when you have both houses of Congress and the Presidency, WHEN will it be finished?
Agree. MoveOn was popular when Bush was President and it was easier to blame the Republicans; but once the Democrats continued the same policies as Bush, MoveOn shut up. A look at its website today call on members to petition Congressmen on certain issues, but no criticism of the Democrats. MoveOn is also a Democratic Party rubber stamp.
we still seem to be under the illusion that a mere President is given the power to stand up to the might of the most powerful corporate entities in the world.
and that anyone progressives might ever approve of could be elected in our right-of-center nation...or that even if magic happens and the nation as a whole woke up enough to actually elect a progressive, that person would be allowed to live.
our elected reps are like the Queen...a figurehead with no ruling power.
the only real competing power would be the power of the people...but mostly we have been brain-washed, brain-dimmed, and bought off by pretty toys, and/or the dream of getting 'rich'.
Because, corruption is everywhere!
It's funny, isn't it...
how so many people are willing to give the Obama Administration a pass for having given BP the green light to proceed with this extremely dangerous, risky deep-water off-shore oil drilling job, which was about 100 miles offshore, and in much, much deeper waters, making it much more dangerous and high risk. Yet, had the McCain/Palin ticket been voted into office and authorized this same kind of deep-water off-shore oil drilling job, the Democrats and progressives would be screaming like banshees for their heads.
Yes, seventy workers fell sick in different locations , some of "food poisoning"? Please, BP, if you are going to lie to us, at least tell us a lie we can believe. You aren't even trying anymore.
This sounds something like Workers Compensation Care in Texas.
their ability to squelch internet news is also troubling...
difficult to find much, if any, current information on the oil's movement through the Gulf Stream and Atlantic seaboard...
BP's influence over searches is a huge plume of corruption drifting below the deceptively honest surface, staining and destroying everything it contacts...
They're also taking down websites set up by private citizens to provide first-hand information of the event. I wish I could remember where I heard/saw this, probably on DemocracyNow!
amazing...
we layfolk are in some bad water, here, for sure...
ain't no one lookin' out for us...
B-B-Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet
Crude oil is packed with a toxic chemical called benzene. Even in small amounts, benzene is associated with leukemia, Hodgkin`s Lymphoma and other serious blood and immune system diseases. The EPA`s "safe level" for benzene is 4 ppb (parts per billion) and benzene is being found in Gulf air at levels of 3,000 ppb. Crude oil is being smelled hundreds of miles away. If you can smell oil, you`re breathing highly toxic benzene.
With the oil, numerous other toxic gases including hydrogen sulfide and methylene chloride are also gushing from earth.. The levels recorded pose serious, even fatal, risks to adults and unborn children.
Most people know that the chemical dispersant BP is using is highly toxic. It`s so toxic that the EPA ordered BP to use a different and less toxic dispersant - an order which BP ignored. Currently, over a million gallons of these toxic chemicals have been dumped into our oceans. The same dispersant was used with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It caused serious respiratory, liver, nervous system, kidney and blood damage in people.
But wait, there is more : During hurricane season water is ‘sucked’ up into the atmosphere not only by oceanic evaporation but also by physical dispersement. So, it should`t be a surprise that scientists are predicting severe destruction across the U.S. from toxic rains - and it appears the first cases are being reported about 400 miles from the Gulf.
Plants have small, raindrop-sized burn marks on them. It is likely that crops may fail and if they do survive, it`s likely they`ll be toxic to consume because plants being watered with toxic chemicals will absorb those chemicals into their cells.
The health insurance companies are, no doubt, salivating with anticipation.
And the undertakers.
I guess God has just joined the growing ranks of the unemployed.
After all the cataclysmic natural disasters of biblical proportions
from an angry deity are not currently needed as "Ape-Man Wonder"
is doing a pretty thorough job of exterminating life on this old planet.
Guess He'll have to wait a few more weeks for His unemployment benefits
as the Senate "Repulsivecans" have filibustered them again for now
while taking advantage of Senator Byrd's passing to grant Wall Street
yet another multi-billion dollar tax cut.
Love it! God unemployed! Haahaahaaaaaaaa. Too good!
Sometime you just have to laugh!
Killing them softly with cor-ex-it, killing them softly, with ben-zene and meth-ane, and "chem-trails" killing us softly, it's all wrong!
Please view the video and help get the message to the Gulf residents, BP oil spill cleanup workers, and President Obama. Thank you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M1J7U2GYA0
I can't seem to get that video to come up,
could you give the title of the video and what
it is , sometimes I have better luck search that
way.
They aren't allowing clean up crews to wear respirators either. That would require admitting to the media that the spill really is toxic. Kinda brings back memories of 9-11. Crews weren't allowed to use respirators and now look at all of the people dying from breathing in all that shit.
Damn it.....What a mess
And it is very concerning the conotrol of the net but
not suprising...everyone is, please understand how well
guarded some news is and won't be able to find on the net
just as they have controlled the other forms of media through
the years. Some will get through to a few sites, but mostly
in is going to be a controlled media source like all others.
I committed a sin today, something I try not to do any more..
I watched the Robert Gibbs White House press conference
today. Chad Allan was there with Gibbs. The questions asked
by the press were sad. Much about immigration legislation,
which is about the last problem Americans need to concern
themselves with right now.. How little attention was paid
to legislation that concerns us was also frightening, and
the talk about there is no time before the POTUS summer break, yet CapHill found the time to run an extreme santions
on Iran legislation through and Obama making hay with the
media about this.
Please people, don't take anything serious what they are
saying, don't even tune into anything they have to say or
please don't listen to any MSM including MSNBC.. The are
professionals, they will influence you even if you are aware
of what their intentions are. They are diverting every major
issue that concerns our well-being. they are lieing, influencing thought and about every thing that Orwell warned
us of. We need someone to pick up the ball really , really
quick and turn this around before Iran, Syria, or Lebanon
get attacked and bring on world at war.
The powers that be know unemployment will be over fifty
percent if we get run out of Afghan. Right now the MIC and
the wars are responsible for over half of the employment.
Lets not be afraid of this. Lets stop them. Lets regroup.
We can team up in housing, food and other necessities until
we rebuild a sustainable economy, we CAN do it.
We are not a racist country, the two parties are racist.
They are still playing the divide and conquer game with us
and winning, lets turn the tables on them, we have to quickly
, very quickly. We are good people, they are not.
Heartfelt post, BABOON, and positive suggestions.
"We are good people, they are not."
Good people are not spending their lives playing cut-throat games so they don't see and feel what is happening. They are not used to thinking in terms of their leaders doing them in. They keep believing and expecting leaders to realize what they need to do and then do it for the benefit of The People.
Criminally-minded, greedy, self-serving people and a healthy percentage of true dim bulbs and doofuses are running things. Covering their own asses is primary to them, and staying in the unreal, fickle D.C. scene.
The prognosis for all of our futures is not looking good.
I really do not like posting doom and gloom. But doom and gloom is to face, and make plans accordingly as you suggest. But likely before the "sleeping giant" fully wakes up, many more unpleasantries will have to happen that directly affect a solid majority of our citizens. Then and only then will true unrest begin to bubble, perk and reach a boil.
keep on truckin, fella,
/cm
Nearly every day, someone i have just met tells me that "they" will have the Gulf gusher stopped in less than a month, that "they" will stop global warming by 2050.... the amount of disinformation out there really is terrifying.
what we can do now: eradicate, as much as possible, the use of oil and plastics from our lives. write our representatives daily--heck, write all the representatives daily. make a noise, make a stink! after all, BP's done that much, and the reek of corruption from Congress probably reached the highest heavens a decade ago already. a vocal constituency has to be listened to. the only immorality is silence.
I think that you too are misinformed here. BP has made noise with dollars, the only kind that matters anymore. Your letters to your "elected" officials will only contribute to the problem as they won't even use them as toilet paper since they have hundred dollar bills for that. So, dream on! Keep thinking that writing letters to the corporate representatives will change anything.
It is primarily up to Gulf Coast residents to make their concerns and problems evident. They should be prepared to refute charges or impressions that they are malingering or trying to scam the system. They should work on talking to people in their states who have positive attitudes towards big business and negative attitudes towards government. Above all, they should try to get people elected who will be on their side rather than the oil companies. They should also reach out to oil industry workers about responsibility of workers for the deeds of their employers.
In other words they should first find out and then spread the word about what is happening to them. If they want something other than "benign" neglect as soon as it becomes politically possible, they will have to raise their own consciousness and recognize that others need to have their consciousness raised. They will have to fight the idea that how an employer runs the business is really no business of the individual employee except perhaps where his individual welfare is concerned. They will have to spread the idea that a majority of the people in their states elected politicians and favored policies that helped bring about both the oil spill and the general unpreparedness to deal with it adequately, and that this majority will have to decide that it made a mistake.
Oh, yeah! Spreading the word works well. While they're at it, they may as well spread the gospel too.
Thad Allen is BP's chief ___ sucker. Thus, it's not that his order to grant access to the media has been ignored, it is that it wasn't an order in the first place, but pure propaganda on the spot.
The Europeans have brewed up quite the Toxic Stew in our land.
But they are the Smart People perhaps they will have all the problems of their Nation solved tomorrow and their oil gushing out of the Gulf stopped tomorrow?
And maybe not?
Life is good. What an experience! It's always best to forgive.
Just grieving and shaking over the unutterable corruption...
BP and the government play every angle.
Here is a perspective on the $20 billion ruse.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jul2010/gulf-j02.shtml
Public health concerns mount? Who exactly is worried here? The government? Congress? BP? If you answer: the people, may I please remind you that we the sheeple don't count? We are only here as a tool of the uber-rich, to make their goods and consume them. Nothing more, nothing less.
THE TARBALL REPUBLIC
For some time many citizens of the United States have been living in a nation of the Second World. We can only marvel at a government that has provided us with the services of such profoundly dysfunctional "organizations" as FEMA, MMS, TSA, SEC and the FDA. Without doubt this list is too short and in due course we shall find other useless entities to add. Every indication from independent reporters on the Gulf coast demonstrates that the BP induced disaster is of enormous proportions and that what is happening is being shrouded by government fashioned opacitity. The government functions best when the citizens are uninformed, despite the preelection promises of the BIG O.
OBAMA IS THE NAME & TARBALLS IS THE GAME. Sail on, oh mighty ship of state.