British Petroleum's (BP's) CEO announces he's "sorry" for the largest and worst oil spill in U.S. history-and sorry for the "massive disruption" it has caused the Gulf Coast. But he wants his life back now.
"The first thing to say is I'm sorry," BP CEO Tony Hayward responded when asked what he would tell Louisiana residents, where heavy oil [from the BP Gulf oil spill] has already reached parts of the state's southeastern marshes. "We're sorry for the massive disruption it's caused their lives. There's no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back." Really? As if BP hasn't already displayed complete arrogance in refusing to acknowledge and address the environmental hazards the company caused; now the CEO is ridiculous enough to actually speak the words that HE wants HIS "life back"?
How about the lives of sea life and wild animals, and what appear will be permanent and negative alterations to the eco-system and even endangered animal species. Those animals and environment arent' getting their lives back. BP''s Hawyward should probably be muzzled for his own good, or find a decent PR person to speak for him.
He says BP now has about 30 aircraft or planes, searching for signs of the Gulf oil spill and has moved more than 300 people of offshore "floatels" to speed up its response time. "What we're not faced with is a complete line of oil coming at us. It's more like guerilla insurgency, if I can use military jargon," he said. "And what we need to do is have a rapid response capability to get it as we identify it, rather than have it come onto the shore or onto the marsh." Oh, so now
BP's interested in 'guerilla insurgence' and 'rapid response'-seems a little late to be rapid.
Of course there's a reason for that lack of urgency initially displayed by BP: On NBC's "Meet the Press," Carol Browner backs the idea that BP delayed clea-up efforts, which should have been done in an expeditious manner. "BP has a financial interest in these [oil spill] numbers," says Browner. "They [BP] will pay a [financial] penalty based on the number of barrels per day," she said.
So it seems BP underestimated by about 66% roughly. BP had originally said about 5,000 barrels of oil per day were leaking but the latest estimate is between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels per day.
BP may also have ulterior motives for not wanting that oil to find land, possibly the reason so much devotion to airplane searches for the slicks is underway. The 'visuals' of the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster were permanently engrained in the publics' mind-after seeing photographs of the desparately dying, oil covered animals, in their last breaths.
"This is probably the biggest environmental disaster we've ever faced in this country," Browner said. More oil is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico than any other time in U.S. history, including the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Apparently BP must have about the same amount of true interest in people as it does in animals. A fisherman was hospitalized after becoming ill while cleaning up oil in the Gulf; he's now filed a temporary restraining order in federal court, asking BP to give the workers masks and not harass workers who publicly voice their health concerns.