Waking this morning thinking: Bloody British Petroleum! Bloody Petroleum!
Criminals. That's how most Americans view BP today, myself included. Bloody friggin criminals. Bloodied our Gulf and precious wildlife.
Had a diary ready to go about the criminals known as BP which I'll put below these first remarks that will tell you why you need to be even more angry at and afraid of BP. Below you get two diaries for the price of one. Read about their criminality.
Yet I'm torn in writing this because of my love of Britain and Brits. Roots half British (Eaton and Wickwire). Obsessed with British detective novels. Spent time there, and made lifelong friends. Majored in English and grew up watching old British films with my mom (fav: "I Know Where I'm Going" with Dame Wendy Hiller.) Ah! London plays with Guinness, Guilgud, Finney and Scofield. Ballet, Dame Margot Fonteyn in her 50's was young Juliet.
I don't think Brits are bloody aware of their bloody criminal BP's nature (from reading comments on Brit GoM oil spill articles) and when I read some thing like this I want to scream. Because I realize that Bloody Petrol --- fourth largest corporation in the world --- believes it is above the law. Of course, Exxon, twice as large, probably thinks the same thing.
From London, Bloomberg columnist Matt Lynn's advice to BP:
Your job is to look after the owners of the company,
not make yourself acceptable to a country that doesn’t want you anymore.
Just say:
"Thanks for everything guys. It was good while it lasted.
Sorry about the oil spill, but so it goes. Goodbye and goodnight."
It's not as if his arguments about us are dead wrong, they are just not the whole truth.
....the U.S. is guilty of crazy double standards.... "Excuse me, which country is the biggest oil consumer on the planet? Who refused to do anything about climate change... put sensible taxes on gas? snip ... of course the oil companies have to drill in more and more dangerous places. If you insist on being addicted to cheap oil, you have to recognize there are risks attached. So grow up, and stop acting like children."
Mr. Lynn says that washed up in America for good BP should stop trying to change opinion, accept the hatred, "go down fighting." From our "overabundance":
hire the nastiest, meanest lawyers that money can buy... Fight every lawsuit. Refuse every claim above the bare minimum.
Of course, we kind of had the feeling that is what they would eventually do. But such callous words incite more fury, do they not?
Well, Mr. Lynn: It's not on. I'm here to tell you that dismissing BP's criminality so lightly is bloody disgraceful! Is this what you expect of corporations? Americans do use an excess of oil. We know we have to change our ways, but that doesn't mean the people want criminal corporations ignoring our legal safeguards on our environmental treasures.
Acknowledge this, Mr. Lynn: BP has been an illegal, criminal enterprise for more than a decade. [If you disbelieve me, read the below referenced articles.]
Our shame comes from knowing that and not shutting them down before the ruination of the Gulf of Mexico.
Your shame, Mr. Lynn, comes in not caring about the environment, and not caring that BP is a bloody criminal enterprise! You accept that a corporation has the right to behave criminally because they fill a need. Your argument implies that somehow the need for product absolves BP of criminal behavior.
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Briefer version of ProPublico article in WaPo.
(BP = ) "recurring environmental criminal" - Jeanne Pascal, former EPA atty.
Keep this in mind while reading about BP:
BP runs a monster deepwater rig called Atlantis in the Gulf. ProPublica interviewed former BP contractor Kenneth Abbott, project control leader on jumbo rig Atlantis which:
is capable of producing more than eight million gallons of oil a day from the ocean floor.
Want to know how bad BP is? Go read about the Atlantis, and the 5/17 Interview: Kenneth Abbott. It's quite a story, reveals this "criminal" nature of BP and his suit against the MMS and DoI Sec. Ken Salazar. Article links also to 60 minutes interview w/Abbott.
ProPublica (BP) management flouted safety by neglecting aging equipment, pressured or harassed employees not to report problems, and cut short or delayed inspections in order to reduce production costs. Executives were not held accountable for the failures, and some were promoted despite them.
BP was already in deep trouble with the US government, before the Deepwater disaster, facing a possible ban on US contracts and new leases. BP was investigated and warned:
the oil company repeatedly disregarded safety and environmental rules and risked a serious accident if it did not change its ways.
EPA, May 21, considering sanctions against BP.
the EPA suspended negotiations with the petroleum giant over whether it would be barred from federal contracts because of the environmental crimes it committed before the spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP's myriad safety issues, lawsuits, fines--- have taken place from The Gulf to Alaska according to former employees and in emails supplied to ProPublica.
They all go to show that BP --- fourth largest corporation in the world --- believes it is above the law.
BP ignores BP safety policies. Like Wall Street, BP executives who flaunt the rules and cause failures are promoted rather than being fired.
One key question the EPA will consider is whether the company's leadership can be trusted and whether BP's culture can change.
We could supply the answer now.
Employees who seek to report safety concerns are intimidated at BP. Their safety violations comprise most of the violations by all companies by far. Whether it is corroded pipes or violations like this at an LA refinery:
....falsified inspections of fuel tanks ...and that more than 80 percent of the facilities didn't meet requirements to maintain storage tanks without leaks or damage.
BP's track record: Do whatever they damn please, then pay any fines or costs accrued from accidents because it's cheaper than doing things right, legally, morally responsibly. That is BP corporate mentality.
BP has five US refineries and all have safety issues that are "significant." Even when they are cited and promises are made to make corrections to improve safety, they do nothing. Last year for the Texas plant they were fined $87 million. None of this is new.
Corroded pipelines? Huge problem. When warned, BP continues to ignore the problems. Typical. They keep from doing anything unless forced again and again. They falsify reports according to evidence Example after example shows BP's corrosive contempt for the laws of the country in which they operate.
Example: The Carson refinery in LA where self-reports were falsified. The plant manager was promoted after BP accepted a settlement of $100million in fines:
"They had been sending us reports that showed 99 percent compliance,
and we found about 80 percent noncompliance...."
Jeanne Pascal, former EPA attorney who led BP investigations says:
"They are a recurring environmental criminal and they do not follow U.S. health safety and environmental policy..."
Last week the investigative panel led by the Coast Guard and MMS (?! yes, really) testimony revealed that at the Deepwater Horizon rig before it blew up, certain sensors and systems to shut down the power were not operating. Air-intake valves failed. Backstop systems failed. There was no alarm system in the engine room that could shut the power off.
Eleven men died, others were injured.
The Gulf of Mexico and untold wild marine life has been lost and damaged. Livelihoods, heritage lost. And so on.