There has been considerable controversy over BP preventing journalists and activists to film in public areas — showing the damage of the recent spill on animals and the environment. BP has no authority to do so, but it continues (as in this video) to prevent filming at various locations.
The video shows Drew Wheelan, the conservation coordinator for the American Birding Association, was filming himself across the street from the BP building/Deepwater Horizon response command in Houma, Louisiana. He is approached by an officer (who we learn later is working for BP):
Wheelan: “Am I violating any laws or anything like that?”
Officer: “Um…not particularly. BP doesn’t want people filming.”
Wheelan: “Well, I’m not on their property so BP doesn’t have anything to say about what I do right now.”
Officer: “Let me explain: BP doesn’t want any filming. So all I can really do is strongly suggest that you not film anything right now. If that makes any sense.”
Wheelan says that he was later pulled over by the same officer and another officer named Kenneth Thomas with a badge reading “Chief BP Security.” He was allegedly questioned and Thomas confiscated his Audubon volunteer badge.
The deputy was off-duty at the time and the story below reports that Major Malcolm Wolfe of the sheriff’s office insisted that there was nothing wrong in an officer working for a private company to use his police car to pull over citizens. The story says Wolfe thought it was a proper use of a vehicle because Wheelan could be a “terrorist.” He should rest assured. With the possible exception of the 9-11 attacks, no terrorist in history has caused the type of property and environmental damage as BP.
If BP contests these facts, it should do so clearly and publicly. As it stands, this is a truly frightening story.
Source: Mother Jones
CCD,
HuffPo has picked up the story about Dillon today. Again, nice catch.
Corporate feudalism indeed.
Holy crap, CCD!
I want to know why Dillion isn’t on every news channel in the country.
I wish I knew somebody who knew the bookers for certain news shows and could make a suggestion . . .
The reporters at Think Progress could learn a few things. They have this gem filed under corporate malfeasance.
When it should be:
Corporate Feudalism–BIL
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/07/11/cutthroat-bp/
Before he was fired, Dillon was “confined and interrogated for almost an hour.”
UPDATE:
Yet more judges who can’t spell “conflict of interest”.
“WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Thursday turned down the Obama administration’s effort to enforce a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, ruled shortly after a hearing in a lawsuit filed by companies that claim they are being financially crippled by the suspension of drilling.
[. . .]
“Alliance for Justice, a liberal advocacy group, reported on Thursday that two of the judges on the appeals court panel, Jerry E. Smith and W. Eugene Davis, both appointed by President Ronald Reagan, had represented the oil and gas industries while in private practice. Judge Smith’s clients included Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Sunoco. Judge Davis represented a number of companies involved in offshore drilling and other oil field operations.
Judge Davis’s 2008 financial disclosure reports listed $2,000 to $30,000 in investments in gas and oil concerns; Judge Smith had none.
The third judge on the panel, James L. Dennis, appointed by President Bill Clinton, had investments in at least 18 energy companies valued at between $31,000 and $300,000, the group found. Judge Dennis sold a stake in Transocean, the company that was drilling the well under contract to BP, in 2006, according to financial disclosure reports compiled by the group.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/us/09drill.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Because he never loses relevance to any discussion about the power dynamic being consolidated in the country these days:
NSFW
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q&hl=en_US&fs=1]
Here is an important update to this story. If you have the time, watch the video. Whatever you choose to call this situation it shows both BP and the govt. working together to deceive the public and violate our right to know what is happening. This should not be acceptable to any citizen.
“Journalists who come too close to oil spill clean-up efforts without permission could find themselves facing a $40,000 fine and even one to five years in prison under a new rule instituted by the Coast Guard late last week.
It’s a move that outraged observers have decried as an attack on First Amendment rights. And CNN’s Anderson Cooper describes the new rules as making it “very easy to hide incompetence or failure.”
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0704/coast-guard-bans-reporters-oil-cleanup-sites/
Here’s a second story. “A photographer taking pictures for these articles, was detained Friday while shooting pictures in Texas City, Texas.
The photographer, Lance Rosenfield, said that shortly after arriving in town, he was confronted by a BP security officer, local police and a man who identified himself as an agent of the Department of Homeland Security. He was released after the police reviewed the pictures he had taken on Friday and recorded his date of birth, Social Security number and other personal information.
The police officer then turned that information over to the BP security guard under what he said was standard procedure, according to Rosenfield.”
A photographer taking pictures for these articles, was detained Friday while shooting pictures in Texas City, Texas.
The photographer, Lance Rosenfield, said that shortly after arriving in town, he was confronted by a BP security officer, local police and a man who identified himself as an agent of the Department of Homeland Security. He was released after the police reviewed the pictures he had taken on Friday and recorded his date of birth, Social Security number and other personal information.
The police officer then turned that information over to the BP security guard under what he said was standard procedure, according to Rosenfield. (find at Common Dreams, I can’t paste the link for some reason.)
On March 23, 2005, a fire and explosion occurred at BP’s Texas City Refinery in Texas City, Texas, killing 15 workers and injuring more than 170 others. BP was charged with violating federal environment crime laws and has been subject to law suits from the victim’s families. Later an $87 million fine was imposed by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which claimed that BP had failed to implement safety improvements following the disaster.
This was during the “W” years and no action was taken against BP until Legal action 08′. They were able to keep the administration at bay.
On February 4, 2008, U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal heard arguments regarding BP’s offer to plead guilty to a federal environmental crime with a US$50 million fine. At the hearing, blast victims and their relatives objected to the plea, calling the proposed fine “trivial.” So far, BP has said it has paid more than US$1.6 billion to compensate victims.[1] The judge gave no timetable on when she would make a final ruling.[2]
On October 30, 2009 the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) imposed an $87 million fine on the company for failing to correct safety hazards revealed in the 2005 explosion. The fine was the largest in OSHA’s history, and BP announced that it would challenge the fine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_Refinery_explosion