CREW and Greenpeace Seek Video Feeds and Government Documents Related to Gulf Oil Spill

Late yesterday afternoon, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington (CREW) and Greenpeace sent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
requests to four agencies, seeking copies of the video feeds of the
British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
and other documents related to efforts to mitigate or clean up the oil
spill. The requests were sent to the U.S. Coast Guard,
Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of the Interior, and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. CREW and
Greenpeace are seeking the feeds and records related to them to allow
scientists to determine how much oil has been spilling into the Gulf of
Mexico for nearly a month. Estimates have varied widely, with BP
executives initially claiming the equivalent of 5,000 barrels a day,
while others who have reviewed a short segment of a video feed are
calculating a significantly higher amount.

CREW executive director Melanie Sloan said, "It is impossible to
understand why the government hasn't already made the video feed and
other records documenting the impact of the spill public. Americans have
the right to any information that would allow an accurate assessment of
the true dangers this oil spill has created." Sloan continued, "While
we hope for prompt and complete responses to our requests, if the
government resists or delays producing this critical information, CREW
and Greenpeace are prepared to aggressively pursue this matter in
court."

Read CREW's and Greenpeace's FOIA requests to:

• the U.S. Coast Guard,
• Environmental Protection Agency,
• U.S. Department of the Interior, and
• the National
  Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.