Gulf Oil Spill: BP Tries To Block Release Of Oil Spill Research

RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI and NOAKI SCHWARTZ, Associated Press

HOUSTON -- Faced with hundreds of lawsuits and a deep need for experts, BP has been offering some Gulf Coast scientists lucrative consulting contracts that bar them from releasing their findings on the company's massive oil spill for three years.

Some scientists say the contracts constrain academic freedom. A few signed the agreements, then changed their minds.

And others argue BP's contract is standard, and with little federal funding available to study the spill's impact, Gulf Coast researchers have few other options.

"I personally wouldn't care to have my research limited, but if I wanted to do work on the spill and this was the only way I could get out there and get working on it, I don't think there's a lot of alternatives," said Chris D'Elia, dean of the Louisiana State University School of the Coast and Environment.

BP confirms hiring more than a dozen scientists who have Gulf Coast expertise to assist with hundreds of lawsuits and assess the environmental damage caused by the spill.

"What we have asked is that they treat information from BP's lawyers as confidential, as is customary," said David Nicholas, a BP spokesman in London. "But we do not take the position that environmental data is confidential and we do not place restrictions on academics speaking about scientific data."

Still, American Association of University Professors President Cary Nelson said the three-year limitation could suppress information key to restoring the environment.

"Many scientists are turning down these contracts because they feel this research needs to be shared with the public, it needs to be shared with the government," said Nelson, whose group represents about 48,000 academics.

Researchers are asked to sign similar contracts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency charged with tracking the oil and assessing the damage.

Also in the mix is a hesitance to be associated with the company that's responsible for around 184 million gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.

"Setting aside any good intentions, the idea of being affiliated with BP was not a good thing," said Joe Griffitt, a scientist at the Gulf Coast Research Marine Lab at the University of Southern Mississippi, who initially signed a deal with BP, then changed his mind.

In the end, each side will try to get as many experts on their team as possible, removing knowledge from the public domain, said Mark Davis, director of the Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy at Tulane Law School in New Orleans.

"That's not wrong. Those are the rules of the game," he said. "It's the survival of a company, the survival of a crucial industry is at stake in a vital market area. This is serious business."

___

Schwartz reported from Los Angeles.

Comments

[RightsGuy]

02:52 PM on 07/31/2010

BP only cares about maintaining their image so they can keep making money. They don’t care about the people their actions and policies have killed.

The human cost of the oil spill and BPs corruption is huge, not only with this oil spill disaster, but with many other losses of life on other BP rigs.

Everyone please take a look at the following tribute by Steve Joynt to the 11 men who died on the Deepwater Horizon, “Oil spill Day 100: The 11 men who died on the Deepwater Horizon”

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/07/oil_spill_day_100_the_11_men_w.html

We can never lose sight of the human cost of BP’s and others’ malfeasance.

And be sure to read Robert Reich’s article, “The Final Lesson of BP” here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-final-lesson-of-bp_b_662963.html

[mateo80]

03:52 PM on 07/27/2010

These scientists should sign the documents, do the research, then grow a pair and release the data anyway and deal with the fallout that comes from standing for truth. Nothing is ever gained without sacrifice.

[Levi Erik]

01:24 AM on 07/26/2010

Last week, BP was once again caught lying to the public, this time indirectly, through photoshopped images the oil giant has been posting across their official response website. They disgust me.

Read the full story: http://www.bestfunnyblog.com/world-news/bp-photoshops-pictures-command-center/

[NoLongerAnonymous]

03:50 PM on 07/25/2010

"That's not wrong. Those are the rules of the game," he said. "It's the survival of a company, the survival of a crucial industry is at stake in a vital market area. This is serious business." Spoken like a true lawyer. What's serious business, Mr. Counsel, is the survival of the entire food chain upon which our survival depends. Save your idiotic, irrelevant arguments for your clients who have promised you a nice wad of paper printed in special sensitive inks on special fiber-enhanced, cotton-enriched paper. Me, I'll vest my trust in real food, real water and real air. And real people who give a real god damn about the survival of our species. THOSE are the rules of the game.

[kkrimmer]

02:43 PM on 07/25/2010

The oil drilling catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico brought to us by BP has overshadowed its central role over the past century in fostering other disastrous events.

BP originated in 1908 as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company—a British corporation whose name was changed to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. With exclusive rights to extract, refine, export, and sell Iran's rich oil resources, the company reaped enormous profits. Mohammed Mossadeq, the prime minister signed legislation, to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.

The British government was horrified and imposed an economic embargo on Iran. When this failed to bring the Iranians to heel, the British government sought to arrange for the overthrow of Mossadeq.

The CIA was placed in charge of an operation, including fomenting riots and other destabilizing activities, to overthrow Mossadeq and advance oil company interests in Iran. http://hnn.us/articles/128147.html

BP & CIA overthrew a democratically elected leader in Iran, then put a tyrant in his place who imprisoned and tortured, finally killing civilians in the streets (Shah) which paved the way for Islamic revolution.

[LCLA]

06:14 PM on 07/25/2010

The head of Operation Ajax was CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., a grandson of US President, Teddy Roosevelt.
It is fascinating and disturbing to see how many other prominent and wealthy Americans with oil wealth have been in the employ of the CIA through the years, including former US President, George H.W. Bush and the late William F. Buckley.

[halfpricefaustian]

01:01 PM on 07/25/2010

The researchers can talk publicly about environmental data but not about anything BP's lawyers give them. This is the kind of weasel wording that makes me angry. So BP gives the researchers information, via their lawyers, about the pressure and flow rate of the well, the mix of oil to methane, everything they know about the dispersants they were using, everything they know about the toxicity of the oil and the impact it has had on the gulf fauna and flora, and the researchers can't talk about it for 3 years because it came from the lawyers.

[turamali]

11:46 AM on 07/25/2010

Tired of these people they need to be prosecuted now.

[turamali]

11:46 AM on 07/25/2010

Exactly when is the Administration going to go after this company? Hopefully they are laying in wait and once we get all the money that they owe on this disaster they will pounce.

[Someone Said]

11:41 AM on 07/25/2010

I'll bet the BP Claims Processing Center is buzzing like a hive these days.
All hands on deck for claims adjusters.
But of course, I'm sure BP will be screwing everyone out of as many dollars as possible in their settlements. Typical practice for them.

[llozano]

11:11 AM on 07/25/2010

If they limit access to the research they can then spin it to their favor and the scientists will be unable to refute what information is being put out publicly. If this goes to trial the scientists will be under a gag order that is self-imposed. I hope that there will be some independent research going on that will not be restricted. This is the only way we'll be able to gauge the extent of the damage and how much BP is responsible for. What I don't understand is why BP seems to be calling the shots on this. Why is the U.S. government taking a back seat to BP and allowing them to tell us how and what they are going to do.

[Nan Rouda Fogel]

11:08 AM on 07/25/2010

Subpoena the studies, for crying out loud!!!

[Madmiddle]

11:01 AM on 07/25/2010

A company, a business, is trying to keep information from the public. This is happening because our government is behind big oil and to many officials will become exposed. Sounds like the trend set by George Bush, the first and second, and if memory serves me correct Clinton hid a lot. So lies spread by government carries on thru an administration that was going to change things.

[WillieBlack]

10:32 AM on 07/25/2010

Can anyone post a link to a site which shows the wording of the contracts being offered by BP to oil industry scientists?

Can anyone post a link to a site where a legal professional has interpreted one of these contracts, and has expressed an opinion as to their content?

Maybe someone can post a link to a site where one of the people who has been offered one of these contracts has disclosed any of the terms of the contract? Or where BP have published information as to what the terms of the contract might be?

I see a quote from a BP spokesman:

"What we have asked is that they treat information from BP's lawyers as confidential, as is customary," said David Nicholas, a BP spokesman in London. "But we do not take the position that environmental data is confidential and we do not place restrictions on academics speaking about scientific data."

A rebuttal to this statement should be pretty damned easy - assuming that there is anything of an overly-restrictive nature to find.

We just need to see one of the contracts.

[agxphoto]

12:32 PM on 07/25/2010

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10731408

http://www.southalabama.edu/publicrelations/pressreleases/2007pr/050907.html

Doctors at public universities in the south are officers of the state; therefore, as gentlemen, they have the right to appear before the bar and plead their views. The professors themselves are, by virtue of their employment as gentlemen (and ladies) of the state, legal professionals.

What kind of rebuttal were you planning? BP themselves, and the people they've approached, all openly admit that BP was asking scientists to restrict the release of their information.

By telling a government university professor what to do, they are essentially attempting to give orders to the state governments which run those universities. By tradition, many governors are the leaders of land grant universities in the US.

[WillieBlack]

12:55 PM on 07/25/2010

"What kind of rebuttal were you planning?"

I was suggesting that an examination of this contract might prove, or disprove, that BP were attempting to prevent oil industry scientists from publishing their findings.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/22_07_bp_contract.pdf

Is linked from the first article, and is what exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.

[agxphoto]

12:33 PM on 07/25/2010

Their duties are largely restricted to campus; but, either you are a gentleman of the state, or you are not. These professors are. BP has really messed up by trying to do this.

[nhfarmer]

10:27 AM on 07/25/2010

A question for the experts: Did Cameron, BP and Transocean seek adequate patent licenses? The April 20 disaster may be the result of US patent law that allows a company to monopolize a method or device that minimizes the risk of human-caused environmental disasters. This is disgusting to nature.

[WillieBlack]

10:49 AM on 07/25/2010

What does Cameron have to do with patent licenses?

Why would he seek a patent license?

[apogee2perogee]

11:57 AM on 07/25/2010

Cameron is the company that made the blow-out preventer, the BOP.

[Chucktheman]

10:03 AM on 07/25/2010

I can understand not sharing the confidential information with competitors of BP. The information should not be able to be kept from the Govt or response teams. A major problem we have is people in the states that surround oil production elect officials who are investors in the oil industry or have campaigns financed by the oil gas and coal industries. There are too many loopholes in the laws protecting intellectual property. The Supreme Court really sc*ewed the American people by allowing corporations do donate money for campaigns as if they are people even when they are not American companies. We have the cards stacked against us in too many areas because of the overlaps of contributor, politician, the need for energy and lax laws by a Supreme Court that seems to hold corporate interests over those of American Citizens.