Chris Roberts, a member of the Jefferson Parish council, claims BP bused in a massive cleanup crew only because Obama was in town.
Roberts said the workers were offered $12 an hour to come out to the scene at Grand Isle and work in what he called a "dog and pony show."
But, when Obama departed, so did the workers, he said, adding that he's never seen more than 20 workers at the Grand Isle cleanup site since the effort started.
Earlier, Roberts told Rick Sanchez that the workers were under orders not to talk to emergency management officials--but one admitted he was told to come to a staging area at 7:30 that morning. Here's the video (I had it embedded, but apparently it's breaking the comments section for IE users).
BP told WDSU in New Orleans that this was no stunt.
BP said that despite no notice of the added forces beforehand, the workers were scheduled.
"We moved in considerably more people to fight the battle where the oil is," said BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles.
BP's local contractor also said it was no stunt.
"So, just to be clear, there are allegations this was just a dog and pony show for the president. So you're saying this was nothing more than a sheer coincidence that the president shows up and all the workers come out in force on the same day?" asked WDSU I-Team reporter Travers Mackel.
"Yes, absolutely a sheer coincidence," said BP contractor Donald Nalty.
However, Roberts and other locals claimed that after the president left, the workers pulled out as well. And at least one local says that he's seen hardly any workers in the 39 days since this fiasco began--and yesterday 300-400 people were on the beach.
If this is true--and all indications are that it is, based on eyewitness accounts--BP seems to still be digging a huge hole for itself. And with reports that a federal criminal probe may be in the works, the timing couldn't possibly be worse for a stunt like this.