Because They Care?
You have to know that the BP brand has turned toxic when CNN releases their attack gerbels: BP plans to get rid of safety watchdog, sources say
Washington (CNN) — BP has been trying to shut down an internal safety watchdog agency it set up under congressional pressure four years ago, according to sources close to the office and a leading congressman.
The Ombudsman Program was set up after a 2005 explosion at a BP refinery in Texas that killed 15 workers and a massive oil spill in Alaska the following year. Its chief, former federal judge Stanley Sporkin, would not comment for this story — but a source inside his office told CNN, “I’m surprised we’re still here.”
Apparently BP doesn’t need this program because their internal system will take care of all of these issues… usually by firing the complainers if the past pattern is any indicator.
But they don’t just ignore their employees, as Rick Outzen notes, BP walks out of Crist’s Oil Spill Meeting. After all, a BP executive took the trouble to show up and give a speech surrounded by his minions, you didn’t really expect him to hang around and listen to the complaints of people being destroyed by the Well from Hell? I mean, why waste time listening to a bunch of complaints that you intend to ignore?
Escambia County officials wonder: Why aren’t skimmers working off our water? Because the media is paying attention to Mississippi at the moment, and having enough skimmers to cover all of the coast isn’t necessary, because they have stalled long enough that the damage is already done. It’s too expensive to do the job right, whether it’s drilling a well, or cleaning up the mess.
2 comments
I often wondered about the etymology of that word, and finally decided it emerges from the sentence, “Watch yer ombuds, ‘r ye may find me elbow in yer ribs.” For an example, see the Washington Post a few years ago.
Hmmm…. Steve, are you referring to the Deborah Howell (WaPo ombudsman-person) debacle? 😀 I commented at PressThink over that a bit, and was linked to at other blogs, such as Skippy’s (*sigh* I really miss that blog! Was a weblog award finalist from 2003 to 2008 and even got a 2nd place!) 😉
Damn! Too many memories… 🙁