BP Guards beach cleanupWhat possible justification would BP have for hiring private security to keep people off public beaches? If the beach needs to be closed for “safety” reasons, then shouldn’t the local or state governments make that decision? To me it sounds like the only thing they’re doing is trying to (futilely) prevent the public from actually seeing the damage they caused.
In their latest eyebrow-raising PR move, multinational oil giant BP has enlisted private security contractors to keep onlookers away from oil cleanup sites. While the firm they hired apparently isn’t Blackwater (the private security firm Blackwater changed their name to Xe Services after a spate of killings in Baghdad, and has now put itself up for sale), they certainly seem to have ‘black water’ in their sights.
Wired‘s “Danger Room” blog dubbed BP’s decision to hire private mercenaries in the Gulf “one of the bestest public relations moves ever.”
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In a video clip obtained by ThinkProgress over the weekend, a local news team from WDSU in New Orleans was told by a private security guard that they were not allowed to talk to cleanup workers on a public beach or come within 100 yards of cleanup operations.
“Who’s saying that?” reporter Scott Walker asked the guard. “Because no one can tell me that, unless you’re the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, you’re the Coast Guard, or you’re the military, can you tell me where to go on this public beach.”
“I can tell you where to go because I’m employed to keep this beach safe,” the guard replied, adding, “You are not allowed to interview any workers.”
via BP hires private security contractors to guard ‘black water’ | Raw Story.
The video starts with a statement by BP’s chief operating officer saying that media reports that BP prevents it’s clean-up workers from talking to the press are “simply untrue”. Not so much…
