BP has been in a glaring public spotlight for weeks and months now, yet they continue to abuse and lie to the millions whose lives they have affected. The Gulf itself is a disaster, countless wildlife are sick and dying, industries are ruined and the oil continues to gush out from deep underneath the water. This is what you get when the region you live in relies on the production and refinement of oil.
Beyond the basics, BP is not trying hard to throw off the stereotype of being an evil and uncaring corporate giant. These two stories show how:
From RawStory:
After BP crews scoop up the oil off Gulf beaches, the waste is transported to Mississippi's Pecan Grove landfill. Even workers' protective suits, gloves, shovels, rakes and anything else that touches oil is buried there.
The Board of Supervisors in Harrison, Mississippi passed a resolution saying they don't want any BP waste in their community but there is little they can do. BP has cut deals with Waste Management, the owners of the landfill. They answer to the state instead of local county government.
BP ignored the press on this issue, but the landfill that contracted with them says it's safe because they installed a liner underneath. Whether or not that liner holds....tons of oil and tons of kitchen garbage are a bit different from each other...is debatable. Of course BP does have to do something with the oil, so perhaps they have some wiggle room, but when it comes to making things right with fishermen whose income has been decimated, there is no excuse for this:
From Perilous Nation:
Hundreds of fishermen from Lake Charles to Moss Point, Miss., were supposed to get checks from BP on Wednesday but didn’t.
Wednesday night, their lawyer wanted answers. Jeffrey Briet represents more than 500 fishermen, and he said the payment system he set up with BP required his clients to be paid every 30 days. Now that process has suddenly changed without warning, Briet said.
“Not only did they spring it on us that the process has changed, but the people I’ve been dealing with for six weeks who’ve done a good job said, ‘We don’t know what the process is going to be. We’re not authorized to talk to you about it. Someone from BP will contact you,’” he said.
Unsurprisingly, no one from BP contacted them and continue to stone wall. One would think it's a no brainer to compensate these poor fisherman....but then again, we are dealing with big oil, a tragedy in of itself.
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