BP Workers Orderded Not To Clean Up Oil; Dispersants Sprayed At Night To Sink Oil Instead
Posted by Alexander Higgins - August 17, 2010 at 1:38 am - Permalink - Source via Alexander Higgins Blog
Loading ...BP Vessel of Opportunity Workers Allege that Oil Is Not Being Cleaned Up During the Day … Instead, Corexit Is Being Sprayed at Night
The government and BP have said that no dispersants have been sprayed in the Gulf since the well was partially capped on July 15th and deny that military C-130 aircraft have been involved in spraying the neurotoxin pesticide corexit.
However, local residents have been saying for weeks that Corexit is still being sprayed and at night and now BP clean up workers are coming forward and saying they where ordered not to clean up oil with skimmers and instead were called off from clean up operations so the oil could be sank with dispersants at night.
Admiral Allen wouldn’t unequivocally deny allegations that dispersants where still being sprayed as of August 9th.
Press Briefing by National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, August 9, 2010:
Elizabeth Cook: Yes. My question, Admiral Allen, is that there are persistent rumors from fishermen in Louisiana that dispersant is still being sprayed both offshore and in the marshes of Barataria Bay. And I have a twofold question. Has dispersant ever been sprayed in Barataria Bay? And is it still being used? And also, if it isn’t being used, when was the last day that dispersant was used by BP?
Thad Allen: We have not used dispersant since the capping stack was put on. I believe that was the 15th of July. To my knowledge, there have been no dispersants used in Barataria Bay, but I will not state that unequivocally until I go back and check.
But I would tell you, there are no dispersants being used at this time. They’re used under very strict protocols offshore. And I will go back and check just for the record if they were ever used early on in the response in Barataria Bay, but my sense is they were not.
Elizabeth Cook: Right. Barataria Bay, though, is not offshore. It’s pretty close to the marshes. And I’m surprised, sir, that you don’t know whether or not it’s been used in Barataria Bay.
Thad Allen: Well, early on in the response… I’m saying I don’t believe it has been, but I don’t want to state it unequivocally until I go back and check the records.
Unequivocal = admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding
Meaning, Allen is not admitting no doubt… So he has his doubts about not using dispersants near shore.
On August 10th, the Destin Log reported that the Unified Command confirmed that they where still spraying dispersants at the well head, even though the well had been supposedly capped since July 15th, which contradict Thad Allen’s claims dispersants were no longer being using but still denied that military C-130 aircraft were ever using in spraying dispersant into the Gulf.
Lt. Cmdr. Dale Vogelsang, liaison officer with the United State Coast Guard, told The Log he had contacted Unified Command and they had “confirmed” that dispersants were not being used in Florida waters. “Dispersants are only being used over the wellhead in Louisiana,” Vogelsang said. “We are working with Eglin and Hurlburt to confirm what the flight pattern may be. But right now, it appears to be a normal flight.”
Vogelsang also said Unified Command confirmed to him that C-130s have never been used to distribute dispersants, as they “typically use smaller aircraft.”
But according to an article by the 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Office, based in Youngstown, OH., C-130H Hercules aircraft started aerial spray operations Saturday, May 1, under the direction of the president of the United States and Secretary of Defense. “The objective of the aerial spray operation is to neutralize the oil spill with oil dispersing agents,” the article states.
A July Lockheed Martin Newsletter states that “Lockheed Martin aircraft, including C-130s and P-3s, have been deployed to the Gulf region by the Air Force, Coast Guard and other government customers to perform a variety of tasks, such as monitoring, mapping and dispersant spraying.”
Neither of the articles specify the operations have taken place in Florida.
After The Log spoke with Vogelsang Friday morning, he once again reiterated that “no dispersants were being used in Florida waters,” and no dispersants have been used anywhere since mid-July. When The Log asked Vogelsang about the two articles, which state C-130s have been used for dispersant spraying, he said “if they were being used here locally to spray dispersants, then Unified Command didn’t know about it.”
While the Federal Government denies that military aircraft are being used to spray dispersants there is plenty of proof to show that they are lying.
In fact, there are photos and video of C-130s dropping dispersant in the Gulf.
Members of the 910th Airlift Wing are in Mississippi to assist with response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The 910th AW specializes in aerial spray and is the Department of Defense’s only large-area fixed wing aerial spray unit.
The Hercules planes are being refueled and refilled with dispersant at the Stennis airport facility on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The video below shows a crew in flight above the Gulf as they prepare to drop the chemical dispersants, which are meant to break up the oil before it hits the coastline.
“This is the mother load right here,” one crew member says as they fly low above reddish fingers of oil streaking across the Gulf.
Dropping Dispersants on Gulf Oil Spill
Here are some snippets from the press release from the 910th titled Air Force Reserve’s 910th Airlift Wing provides initial response to Deepwater Horizon spill.
6/24/2010 – Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Oh — Normally, the 910th Airlift Wing (AW) based at Youngstown Air Reserve Station (YARS), Ohio, is known for its aerial spray missions to control vegetation and overpopulation of insects. However, for the first time in its history, the 910th AW deployed its aerial spray capability to disperse oil instead of annihilating insects.
A U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft from the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown-Warren Air Reserve Station, Ohio, drops oil-dispersing chemicals into the Gulf of Mexico May 9, 2010. Members of the wing are in the region to respond to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The wing specializes in aerial spraying and is the Department of Defenses only large-area, fixed-wing aerial spray unit. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Adrian Cadiz/Released)
More than 60 Air Force Reservists and two specially equipped C-130H aircraft traveled to Stennis International Airport in Kiln, Miss., April 30, to aid in the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup efforts there.
…
During the 5-week mission, the YARS aircrews flew 92 sorties and sprayed approximately 30,000 acres with nearly 149,000 gallons of oil dispersant.
…
“We have one C-130A model under contract to Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) and there is a stretch version … in Alaska,” said Mr. Toenshoff, vice president of the MSRC. “Both aircraft operate using their own spray systems. We also have seven spotter aircraft that tell the C-130s when to spray on a given area of the slick.”
…
“We used a standard of 1,500 feet and five miles visibility in order to safely conduct the operations,” said Maj. Phil Townsend, 757th AS chief of aerial spray. “This allowed us to move out of the way of ships and rigs out on the Gulf. When we disperse the oil, we fly down to 100 feet above the slick and the spotter will tell us when to spray and when to stop.”
…
“Seeing the oil the first time we flew out over the Gulf was quite an amazing thing,” he said. “For 20 to 30 miles out, we were seeing different streamers of oil and slicks 10 to 12 miles in length. When flying down at 100 feet, sometimes we could smell the vapors from the oil.”
…
“The (910th AW Servicemembers) fit right into our team and everyone wanted to help out,” he said. “We saw that in some of the turnaround times of (YARS) aircraft on the runways. Being able to land, reload the C-130 with dispersant and take off in about 10 to 12 minutes was unbelievable.”
And the Lockheed Martin press release reads as follows:
“We got a call from EPA within days of when the platform fire occurred,” reports Dennis Miller, a program manager at Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions. “We immediately mobilized equipment and people from Nevada, New Jersey and North Carolina.”
… Lockheed Martin aircraft, including C-130’s and P-3’s, have been deployed to the Gulf region by the Air Force, Coast Guard and other government customers to perform a variety of tasks, such as monitoring, mapping and dispersant spraying.
Leaving for the Gulf Coast in April from Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Ohio, the C-130 Hercules was deployed to perform a variety of tasks, such as monitoring, mapping and dispersant spraying.
So the federal government’s claims that C-130 aircraft have never been used to spray dispersants are now proven as a lie.
On July 4th, marine biologist and toxicologist Dr. Chris Pincetich – who has an extensive background in testing the affects of chemicals on fish – said that the Coast Guard was spraying Corexit at night over the Gulf:
Dr. Pincetich made this allegation before the well was partially capped on July 15th.
However, on August 9th, award-winning journalist Dahr Jamail wrote:
Dean Blanchard, one of the most important seafood purchasers in Louisiana, recently attended a Town Hall Meeting with a BP representative in Grand Isle, Louisiana.
In the meeting, Blanchard stands up and addresses the BP representative at length.
***
Blanchard had clearly heard enough of BP’s propaganda. To the representatives’ request to have someone explain to him why BP would not want to clean up the oil, Blanchard angrily obliged:
“Because it’s more cost effective for ya’ll to come at night and sink the son-of-a-bitch! When the oil’s coming around, they call ya’ll, they tell ya’ll where the oil’s at, and the first thing ya’ll do is tell them to go the other way, ya’ll send the planes, and ya’ll fucking sink it! [Spray dispersants from the air] That’s what ya’ll are doing, come on man!” He sits back down angrily. “Let’s quit playing over here and tell the truth. Ya’ll are sinking the oil, Jason! You know ya’ll are sinking it. You know what ya’ll are doing. Ya’ll are sending all the boats, you’re putting them all in a group at night, we all hear the planes, and the next morning there’s nothing but white bubbles! What do you think, we’re stupid? We’re not stupid! Ya’ll are putting the oil on the bottom of my fishing grounds! Ya’ll not only messing me up now, ya’ll are messing me up for the rest of my life! I ain’t gonna live long enough to buy anymore shrimp!”
Today, Jamail reports that several people working with BP’s Vessels-of-Opportunity (VOO) program have confirmed this allegation. Here is an excerpt from the must-read essay (this is one of the most important stories about the oil spill, worth taking the time to read word-for-word):
[PhD marine biologist Ed Cake, who has worked for the past couple of decades growing the Gulf oyster industry along side the oil business, usually working for both industries simultaneously] wrote of the experience: “When the vessel was stopped for sampling, small, 0.5- to 1.0-inch-diameter bubbles would periodically rise to the surface and shortly thereafter they would pop leaving a small oil sheen. According to the fishermen, several of BP’s Vessels-Of-Opportunity (Carolina Skiffs with tanks of dispersants [Corexit]) were hand spraying in Mississippi Sound off the Pass Christian Harbor in prior days/nights. It appears to this observer that the dispersants are still in the area and are continuing to react with oil in the waters off Pass Christian Harbor.”
A resident, who has a yacht in the harbor, spoke with Truthout on condition of anonymity due to fears of reprisal from BP. “Last week we were sitting on our boat and you could smell the chemicals,” he explained. “It smelt like death. It was like mosquito spray, but ten times stronger. The next day I was hoarse and my lungs felt like I’d been in a smoky bar the night before.”
…
Truthout spoke with another man, who was recently laid off from the VOO program. He also spoke on condition of anonymity. “Just the other day one of the Carolina Skiffs passed us spraying something,” he said. “We went west instead of east as we turned and a group of Carolina Skiffs was spraying something over the water.”
A Carolina Skiff is a type of boat, usually between 13′ and 30′ long, very versatile and can function well in shallow or deep waters. They are known for having a large payload capacity and a lot of interior space.
Alarmed by what he saw, the former VOO worker called the Coast Guard to report what he believed was a private contractor company spraying dispersants. “We were later told by the Coast Guard they’d investigated the incident and told us what we saw were vacuum boats sucking oil, and they were rinsing their tanks,” he said. “But we know this is a lie and that BP is using these out of state contractors to come in and spray the dispersant at night and they are using planes to drop it as well.”
He worked in the VOO program looking for oil. When his team would find oil, upon reporting it, they would consistently be sent away without explanation or the opportunity to clean it. “They made us abort these missions,” he said. “Two days ago I put out boom in a bunch of oil for five minutes, they told me to abort the mission, so I pulled up boom soaked in oil. What the hell are we doing out there if they won’t let us work to clean up the oil?”
He told Truthout that as his and other VOO teams would be going out to work on the water in the morning, they would pass the out-of-state contractors in Carolina Skiffs coming in from what he believed to be a covert spraying of the oil with dispersant in order to sink it. He believes this was done to deliberately prevent the VOO teams from finding and collecting oil. By doing so, BP’s liability would be lessened since the oil giant will be fined for the amount of oil collected.
“BP brings in the Carolina Skiffs to spray the dispersant at night,” he added, “And they are not accountable to the Coast Guard.”
James Miller, who had taken the group out into the Mississippi Sound that found the oil/dispersants on August 11, told Truthout that the Carolina Skiff teams spraying dispersants were “common” and that it “happened all the time.”
Miller, who was in the VOO, is an eyewitness to planes spraying dispersants, as well as the Carolina Skiff crews doing the same.
“We’d roll up on a patch of oil ½ mile wide by one mile long and they’d hold us off from cleaning it up,” Miller, speaking with Truthout at his home in D’Iberville, Mississippi, said. “We’d leave and the Carolina Skiffs would pull up and start spraying dispersants on the oil. The guys doing the spraying would wear respirators and safety glasses. Their boats have 375 gallon white drums full of the stuff and they could spray it out 150 feet. The next day there’d be the white foam that’s always there after they hit the oil with dispersants.”
Some nights VOO crews would sleep out near the work sites. “We’d sleep out there and some nights the planes would come in so close the noise would wake us from a dead sleep,” Miller added. “Again, we’d call in the oiled areas during the day and at night the planes would come in and hit the hell out of it with dispersants. That was the drill. We’d spot it and report it. They’d call us off it and send guys out in the skiffs or planes to sink it.”
Mark Stewart, from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was in the VOO program for 70 days before being laid off on August 2. The last weeks has seen BP decreasing the number of response workers from around 45,000 down to around 30,000. The number is decreasing by the day.
Stewart, a third generation commercial fisherman, … like Miller, is an eyewitness to planes dispensing dispersant at night, as well as the Carolina Skiff crews spraying dispersant. “I worked out off the barrier islands of Mississippi,” Stewart said. “They would relentlessly carpet bomb the oil we found with dispersants, day and night.”
Stewart, echoing what VOO employees across the Gulf Coast are saying, told Truthout his crew would regularly find oil, report it, be sent away, then either watch as planes or Carolina Skiffs would arrive to apply dispersants, or come back the next day to find the white foamy emulsified oil remnant that is left on the surface after oil has been hit with dispersants.
Stewart added, “Whenever government people, state or federal, would be flying over us, we’d be instructed to put out all our boom and start skimming, acting like we were gathering oil, even when we weren’t in the oil.”
…
There is a clear pattern that VOO workers in all four states are consistently reporting:
- VOO workers identify the oil.
- They are then sent elsewhere by someone higher up the chain of command.
- Dispersants are later applied by out-of-state contractors in Carolina Skiffs (usually at night), or aircraft are used, in order to sink the oil.
- The oil “appears” gone and, therefore, no additional action is taken.
Original article by George Washington. Additional content and material added by Alexander Higgins.
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