"BP is orchestrating the entire operation"

Interview with Mac McClelland, reporting for Mother Jones magazine on the oil spill. - July 13, 2010. From July 12th, 2010, new procedures permit credentialed news media free travel within the boom safety zones. The official statement says "clear, unfettered access" has two exceptions: safety and security concerns. However, it won’t change the major problem of the quality of the news, according to Mac McClelland, who has been working for 10 weeks on the oil spill for MotherJones. RSF – What kind of information do you get ? MM - BP won’t say anything on anything. Calling BP is a bit like waisting my time but I know my editor wants me to mention it when I try and I don’t get anything. Every information is so hard to get ! It’s hard to get anything on clean up activities when you can’t talk to clean up workers. Even when you call the coast gards, it turns out that they are taking BP’s information. It seems that no independently verified information exist at all. RSF – How do you think BP is managing the crisis ? MM - BP is making a pretty decent effort on beaches were it is easy to get too. But there is sometimes zero clean up on beaches that are more difficult to access. I went to one of the island on a kayak without getting the permission from BP – it takes too long. Out of public view, the clean up operation was even more lax than they were on the other island. So you definitely have to question the clean up work. One worker in Florida came out publicly saying that the whole point on clean up is to look clean. Not to actually be clean. Workers in Louisiana have definitely told me that as well. RSF – Did you see any evolution on how media restriction were established ? MM - No. The level of difficulty in getting info has been static.I have been blocked by cops from day 1, even after the coast guard said reporters would have total access granted to the boom zones and the beaches. PHRASE ENLEVEE. But for me, it’s been static for almost 2 months. It is also difficult to know exactly who is in charge. If one is having encounters with police officers, one should ask them if they are private security for BP or actually Louisiana cops. Some are wearing Louisiana cop uniform but can earn extra money by being a security guard for BP. RSF – Did you ever face a similar situation ? MM – I have written a book on Burma. Here, it reminds me of trying to get information form the Burmese goverment. The kind of independant information that the whole country need does not appear to exist. There is no independant auditors. All the numbers come from BP and nothing proves it is accurate. For example, one story I wrote on the clean up workers ended up to be a story on how hard it is to get information. There is no excuse to have nothing to verify. I can’t believe BP is not orchestrating this entire operation.