The crisis management team at BP is working around the clock, but the oil giant is drawing ire from the public by focusing more on redirecting blame and trivializing the amount of oil actually spilled into the Gulf than ways to clean up the mess. Citizens have been reaching out to BP with offers of grassroots help and new ideas but, as this quote from an AlterNet blog illustrates, the company has paid them little mind:
Heaping on the insults, BP run deepwaterhorizonresponse.org is publishing messages like this to citizen groups trying to lend a hand.
We are not using hair booms at this time but are using commercially available sorbent boom when possible. In a February 2010 NOAA field test, commercial sorbent boom absorbed more oil and much less water than hair boom. Widespread deployment of hair boom could exacerbate the debris problem. There is adequate supply of sorbent boom for now, but we do encourage ideas of alternative solutions by calling (281) 366-5511.
So far all alternative solutions have been rejected, but that won’t stop groups like Oiled Wildlife Rescue Volunteers, a facebook group started by Amanda Richardson Bacon of Alabama, who are collecting hairbooms and bails of hay to save their local marshes, beaches, and fishing grounds from contamination. BP’s refusal to work with community groups such as these shows they are open only to commercially available resources.
The power of grassroots efforts has been proven many times – refusing this help can only be detrimental to both BP’s reputation and the health of our oceans.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/