The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

BP and Dispersants: The "Regulated" Regulating the "Regulators"?

WASHINGTON

WALA-TV in Mobile, Alabama is reporting: "At one point during Thursday's
hearings into the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, the
dispersants that are being used in the Gulf were referred to as the
potential 'Agent Orange of the Gulf.'

"BP has used millions of gallons of the chemical Corexit to break down
the oil. The Environmental Protection Agency approved the chemical, but
put limits on how much could be used. That's because the [agency]
believes it does pose some risk."

HUGH KAUFMAN
A noted expert at the Environmental Protection Agency, Kaufman said
today: "Thursday's Senate testimony of EPA and NOAA [National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration] [officials] provides further
confirmation that they are 'sock puppets' for BP and contributing to the
poisoning of the Gulf. EPA green-lighted the massive use of toxic
dispersants because BP wants to cover up the amount of oil
contamination, not to protect the public health and environment."

Background: Kaufman "led the
investigation
for the EPA's Ombudsman that uncovered Environmental
Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration
cover-up[s] of the environmental effects of the 9/11 World Trade Center
attack at the behest of the Bush White House."

Kaufman is extensively cited in "Scientists:
Obama not doing enough + VIDEO: Shrimpers exposed to Corexit 'bleeding
from the rectum
.'"

A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.