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USA - Scientific Integrity Complaint Filed in Gulf Oil Spill - Flow Rate Underestimated by Half

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  • USA - Scientific Integrity Complaint Filed in Gulf Oil Spill - Flow Rate Underestimated by Half

    For Immediate Release: January 23, 2012
    Contact: Kirsten Stade (202) 265-7337

    HIGH-LEVEL LOWBALL IN GULF DEEPWATER CRISIS ? Scientific Integrity Complaint Details Official Underestimation of BP Spill Rate

    Washington, DC ? Top Obama officials manipulated scientific analyses of independent experts to seriously lowball the amount of oil leaking from the BP Deepwater Horizon, according to a scientific integrity complaint filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

    Documents obtained by PEER through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit indicate White House pressure to present low-range estimates as best estimates. In fact, numbers presented to the public were less than half the true flow rate.

    more..


  • #2
    Re: USA - Scientific Integrity Complaint Filed in Gulf Oil Spill - Flow Rate Underestimated by Half

    Scientists were asked to downplay Deepwater Horizon spill rates

    By Bettina Boxall
    January 25, 2012, 2:22 p.m.

    Excerpt:
    ...
    In an e-mail McNutt wrote to members of the second team two days later, she complained that the Interior news release was misleading and that she had gotten ?suggestions? of how to present the findings from the spill?s National Incident Command and the communications staff at the White House and the Department of the Interior.
    ...
    In a scientific integrity complaint filed this week by the group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility contends the e-mail is evidence of White House pressure to low-ball the size of the BP spill, which ultimately totaled 5 million barrels.

    The complaint, filed with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, targets a NOAA senior scientist who PEER says prepared a July 2010 report summarizing the findings of one of the flow teams. PEER accuses the scientist, William Lehr, of selectively representing the team?s work to highlight low flow estimates at the expense of higher ones that were more accurate. Lehr, PEER alleges, wanted to ?accommodate the desires of ? the White House and the National Incident Command.?

    NOAA declined to comment on the PEER complaint and a White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement, McNutt said PEER had taken her e-mail out of context...

    Full text:
    "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
    -Nelson Mandela

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