Congressional Committee Exposes BP Gulf Oil Spill Clean Up Coverup

  Posted by - July 1, 2010 at 5:17 pm - Permalink - Source via Alexander Higgins Blog
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The Washington Examiner provides us with a preview of the findings of a damning report on oil spill response which reveals that the BP Gulf Oil Spill clean up operations are more of a fake PR stunt than a meaningful attempt to really cleanup the oil assaulting the Gulf Coast.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the committee’s ranking member, has announced he will release a report later today on the oil spill response. It appears to bolster criticisms from both the Left and the Right that have rained down on the administration since this disaster began.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/later-today-damning-report-on-oil-spill-response-97579464.html#ixzz0sSz9v01z

Here is part of the preview he provides:

Phantom Assets

“The number of assets claimed [by the White House], however, does not appear to match what is actually in the field. This is corroborated by Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, who shared a similar story with investigators. BP and Coast Guard provided Mr. Nungesser with a map of the Gulf allegedly pinpointing the exact locations of 140 skimmers cleaning up oil. Sensing that the chart may have been somewhat inaccurate, Mr. Nungesser requested a flyover of the assets for verification. After three cancelled trips, officials admitted to Mr. Nungesser that only 31 of the 140 skimmers were ever deployed. The rest were sitting at the docks. According to Mr. Nungesser, the chart appeared to have been fabricated.”

Obama’s ‘Command-and-Control’ An Illusion: Who’s In Charge?

“Parish officials maintain that the federal government has not been in control since day one. In four separate interviews, senior-ranking Parish officials described how, until the President’s visit on May 28, 2010, BP was in charge. According to one official, “until two weeks ago [after the President’s May 28, 2010, visit], BP was in charge and the Coast Guard looked to them for direction.” Furthermore, “Coast Guard asks BP,” not vice-versa. When specifically asked to agree or disagree with the assertion that the federal government had been in control since day one, another official firmly disagreed. Mr. Nungesser told staff that “today, I can’t tell you who is in control,” and invited committee investigators to visit the command center to see for themselves.”

Resources Used as Bargaining Chip to Mute Criticism

“In some instances, it appears that equipment is provided simply to quiet public criticism. Mr. Nungesser, who has frequently appeared on local and national television, was apparently visited by two White House officials at his office on Fathers’ Day. According to Mr. Nungesser, the purpose of their visit was to find a way to keep him from calling attention to the lack of equipment. Specifically, they asked him, “What do we have to do to keep you off tv?” He simply replied, “give me what I need.” On another occasion, Placquemines Parish officials requested 20 skimmers at a town hall meeting held by the Coast Guard. According to Mr. Nungesser, “They gave us two skimmers to shut us up.” These accounts raise serious questions about whether the Administration is more concerned with fighting a public relations battle than combating the oil spill.”

Federal Response Ties Hands of Local Assets

“LaFourche President Charlotte Randolph told committee staff that “we would have liked to have played offense. Would like to have made an effort to collect at the site instead of the shoreline.” This belief is echoed by a Jefferson Parish official who, within days of the explosion, warned BP and the Coast Guard that oil was rapidly approaching and requested that they deploy equipment to prevent it from reaching shore. The local official told committee investigators that, “they all said ‘don’t worry about it.” A St. Bernard Parish official, who described the situation as the “slowest and most ineffective response,” made an emotional plea to “give us the equipment.” There are approximately 700 fishermen in his Parish trained and ready to deploy boom as quickly as the Coast Guard can supply it. Despite multiple requests, however, the supplies are not flowing into the area. As he describes, “it’s like giving me a [gun] with no bullets; it’s just a paperweight.” Accounts such as these not only cast doubt upon the timeline’s credibility and the White House accounting of deployed assets, but also call into question the command-and-control structure producing these results.”

How shocking! BP and the Government reporting 140 skimmers where deployed and cleaning up the oil and meanwhile only 31 where doing any work.

The rest where all docked at shore and never put to work.

Bill Nungusser didn’t believe the report and tried to verify the assets where working as reported by flying over the reported locations the skimmers where supposed to be working and had three overflight trips canceled before the officials admitted that that only 31 skimmers where put into work.

So how many skimmers where actually in operation when the 140 where initially reported and before the three canceled trips.

One can only assume that BP and Government scrambled to try to really put some skimmers to work before Bill Nungusser could verify they where working and only admitted that 31 skimmers where actually working when they couldn’t get the skimmers in action.

It also makes you wonder about the real purpose for the no fly zone that has been put into place over the BP Gulf oil spill.

Absent of the no fly zone it could have been confirmed immediately that the 140 reported skimmers where not doing any work as the Government and BP claimed.

We see videos and photos the massive amounts of oil assaulting the Gulf shores every day and they only have 140 ships attacking the spill.

Just amazing.

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