From Detroit Free Press:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti ... ullarticlePosted: May 30, 2010
BP's credibility faded as oil spill grewBY TAMARA LUSH, HOLBROOK MOHR and JUSTIN PRITCHARD
ASSOCIATED PRESS At nearly every step since the Deepwater Horizon exploded more than a month ago, causing the worst oil spill in U.S. history, rig operator BP has downplayed the severity of the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.
The American Red Cross
On almost every issue -- the amount of oil, the environmental impact, how to stop the leak -- BP's statements have proved wrong. All the while, BP has been slow to acknowledge the leak was likely much worse than the public had been told.
BP's behavior has led to accusations that it has tried to keep the leak estimate low because the size of eventual fines is tied to the size of the leak.
Since the April 20 explosion, one of the most obvious questions has been: How much oil is leaking? Official estimates have grown steadily -- first the word was none, then it was 42,000 gallons daily, then 210,000 gallons.
Now scientists say the leak may be up to 798,000 gallons a day, making the spill worse than the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.
"They keep making one mistake after another. That gives the impression that they're hiding things," said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. "These guys either do not have any sense of accountability to the public or they are neanderthals when it comes to public relations."
Nelson said he believes BP has delayed release of everything from the actual flow rate to underwater videos because federal law allows the government to seek penalties of $1,000 to $4,300 per barrel of oil spilled in U.S. waters.
Officials conceded Thursday that the leak was much larger than the 210,000-gallon-a-day figure floated as the best estimate for four weeks. On Friday, BP spokesman David Nicholas acknowledged that high estimates by BP, the Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had reached 588,000 gallons per day in late April.
Asked why BP had downplayed or been wrong on so many issues, Nicholas said: "This event is unprecedented; no company, no one, has ever had to attempt to deal with a situation such as this at depths such as this before. BP, the Unified Command, the federal authorities and the hundreds of companies and thousands of individuals engaged on this effort are doing everything we can to bring it under control."
Nicholas said daily estimates from April 27-30 were based on two scientific standards. The low end was always around 42,000 gallons per day, the best guess was 210,000-252,000 gallons per day, and the high end varied from 504,000-588,000 gallons per day, he said.
Scientists now say the leak is spewing between 500,000 and a million gallons a day -- 12 to 24 times greater than first stated, making the Deepwater Horizon spill the worst in U.S. history.
Even at the low end of estimates, nearly 18 million gallons have spilled so far. At the high end, the well could have gushed as many as 40 million gallons.
Experts say there's no easy way to measure a leak 5,000 feet deep. Some estimates were based on satellite images or flyovers. The federal government has worked closely with BP, and President Barack Obama has acknowledged shortcomings, but BP controls much of the technology, such as the underwater robots that capture video.
Obama noted that BP didn't make the video public. BP's Nicholas said the government "has had access to the video since the incident started."
The shift in spill estimates has environmentalists like Lorraine Margeson of St. Petersburg, Fla., questioning whether the numbers of dead animals and birds are accurate.
"From the get-go, every aspect of the situation has been downplayed," she said.
