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U.S. kept photos of dead whale under wraps during spill, Greenpeace says
Published: Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 5:47 PM Updated: Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 6:44 PM
By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
The environmental group Greenpeace is raising new questions about why it took the federal government more than two years to release information about a dead sperm whale that was discovered during the BP oil spill. The 26-foot juvenile whale, an endangered species, was discovered by a NOAA research vessel about 77 miles from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Greenpeace officials learned of it in September, when the government finally responded to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Greenpeace in June 2010.
"The problem remains that we don't know exactly what BP and the government scientists saw, what they documented, and how they kept their records," said Greenpeace research director Kert Davies in a news release. "The systemic clamp down on information and consistent lack of transparency and images such as these continue to remind us to demand full accountability from the oil companies and the government, especially with the looming legal settlement between the company and the government."
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"Clearly, the public hasn't seen all the evidence," Davies said. "These images of a dead whale in the Gulf of Mexico, if they had been released in June 2010, would have been front page news. It's pretty upsetting to know that you and I are paying taxpayer money for federal officials to observe things that we still haven't seen."
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NOAA also has not released the test results of the whale flesh, which might show whether there was oil on or in the animal when it died, he said.
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NOAA - Dead Sperm Whale
These images released in September 2012 in response to a 2010 Freedom of Information Act request show NOAA staff investigating the carcass of a dead sperm whale in the Gulf of Mexico on June 15, 2010, seven weeks after the start of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.
More photos:
Published: Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 5:47 PM Updated: Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 6:44 PM
By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
The environmental group Greenpeace is raising new questions about why it took the federal government more than two years to release information about a dead sperm whale that was discovered during the BP oil spill. The 26-foot juvenile whale, an endangered species, was discovered by a NOAA research vessel about 77 miles from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Greenpeace officials learned of it in September, when the government finally responded to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Greenpeace in June 2010.
"The problem remains that we don't know exactly what BP and the government scientists saw, what they documented, and how they kept their records," said Greenpeace research director Kert Davies in a news release. "The systemic clamp down on information and consistent lack of transparency and images such as these continue to remind us to demand full accountability from the oil companies and the government, especially with the looming legal settlement between the company and the government."
...
"Clearly, the public hasn't seen all the evidence," Davies said. "These images of a dead whale in the Gulf of Mexico, if they had been released in June 2010, would have been front page news. It's pretty upsetting to know that you and I are paying taxpayer money for federal officials to observe things that we still haven't seen."
...
NOAA also has not released the test results of the whale flesh, which might show whether there was oil on or in the animal when it died, he said.
...
Full text:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOAA - Dead Sperm Whale
These images released in September 2012 in response to a 2010 Freedom of Information Act request show NOAA staff investigating the carcass of a dead sperm whale in the Gulf of Mexico on June 15, 2010, seven weeks after the start of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.
More photos:
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