Greenpeace proves BP controls Gulf oil research results

They said it was safe

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information Act by Greenpeace further prove BP officials' attempts to control findings from the $500m fund it pledged for independent research into consequences of the Gulf of Mexico oil catastrophe that reached its one-year anniversary Wednesday. This new evidence casts further doubts on Gulf oil related "research" reports that have appeared in mainstream media for almost 12 months, mostly dismissing genuine independent research proving that the dispersed oil is still in the Gulf, Gulf seafood is poisoned, and even a tiny amount of Corexit is poisonous.

New documents show that BP officials openly discussed how to influence scientists' work supported by the fund created by the oil company in May, a month after the Gulf well exploded last year according to the Guardian that reports:

Those concerns go far beyond academic interest into the impact of the spill. BP faces billions in fines and penalties, and possible criminal charges arising from the disaster. Its total liability will depend in part on a final account produced by scientists on how much oil entered the gulf from its blown-out well, and the damage done to marine life and coastal areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The oil company disputes the government estimate that 4.1m barrels of oil entered the gulf.

Greenpeace, the environmental organization heading the Stop Deep Sea Oil Flotilla off the coast of New Zealand, frequently referring to the 2010 Gulf Coast oil catastrophe, has provided email evidence it obtained to the Guardian.

Russell Putt, a BP environmental expert, wrote in an email to colleagues on 24 June 2010: "Can we 'direct' GRI [Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative] funding to a specific study (as we now see the governor's offices trying to do)? What influence do we have over the vessels/equipment driving the studies vs the questions?"

... Other documents obtained by Greenpeace suggest that the politics of oil spill science was not confined to BP. The White House clashed with officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last summer when drafting the administration's account of what has happened to the spilled oil.

On 4 August, NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco "demanded that the White House issue a correction after it claimed that the "vast majority" of BP oil was gone from the Gulf. A few days earlier, Lisa Jackson, the head of the EPA, and her deputy, Bob Perciasepe, had also objected to the White House estimates of the amount of oil dispersed in the gulf.

"These calculations are extremely rough estimates yet when they are put into the press, which we want to happen, they will take on a life of their own," Perciasepe wrote according to the new Guardian report, while BP commented on its email discussions about directing research, "BP appointed an independent research board to construct the long-term research programme."

"Kert Davies, Greenpeace US research director, said, "It's outrageous to see these BP executives discussing how they might manipulate the science programme. Their motivation last summer is abundantly clear. They wanted control of the science."

BP Science vs Genuine Independent Science Reports

An example of the pubic health implications of "BP science" is that of its Gulf seafood studies, as New Orleans environmental attorney Stuart Smith is proving:

"Smith's clients in the BP oil spill include environmental activists and fishermen who don’t believe the seafood to be safe. The independent testing he is overseeing is meant to provide a legal underpinning to their anecdotal evidence — sightings of oil sheens, tar balls, oily fish — and help them win full compensation for their damage claims." ("Oil attorney challenges gov't OK of Gulf seafood")

Smith stated, “When BP says your guy isn’t fishing (as a reason not to pay for lost income) we can say he isn’t fishing because it isn’t safe."

Smith, along with a host of others, acknowledges that simply testing for oil is inadequate and placing the American public at risk.

Thirty percent of seafood on American's dinner tables comes from the Gulf of Mexico - still consumed.

BP-funded marine scientists and non-BP-funded marine scientists also have different takes on what might have killed the over dead 80 bottlenose dolphins washed ashore the U.S. Gulf Coast since January.

It takes no science degree to correctly guess which [BP-funded] scientists have suggested "cold weather" is to blame for the die-off. On March 4th, Dupré reported in the article, "BP-funded scientists: Cold weather killed baby dolphins":

BP has been paying scientists, organizations and even bloggers some of its half billion dollars it is allocating for "science" reports. It is paying for 'research,' for the altruistic reason of learning how to make the Gulf whole again.

Even informal research evidences a continuing public health crisis along the Gulf Coast. Grandmother Blue Otter, Shamanic Medicine ceremonialist for the Clan of Blue Star Grandmothers Charla Hermann presented her post-2010 Gulf oil explosion research evidencing mutated life forms and grief she had only seen in war-torn Iraq.

Unlike BP-funded and controlled research, Hermann reported, “These people are worn down. It's rough down there."

Under a big oak tree at Dr. Mike and Brenda Dardar-Robichaux's last weekend, Captain Louis Bayhi's testimony left no doubt that the United States government, with BP, has continually violated the human right to health of an untold number of Gulf Coast residents, since the April 20, 2010 Gulf Operation began the depopulation event, as top ex-oil executive turn whistleblower, Ian Crane and others have identified the cruel and inhumane treatment in the Gulf region to be.

In Captain Bayhi's presentation, in an emotional address, he explained the reality that BP-funded research has had on the Gulf people, saying, "I'm just doing what I love and what I was told that was safe." ("Sick with Gulf Plague, Gulf Captain Louis Bayhi gives Testimonial (video)")

In August, while working in Grand Isle, Louisiana, Captain Bayhi's wife and children went to stay with him. Last weekend, he recounted: