A cleanup worker involved in last year’s BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico claims the company and the U.S. Coast Guard worked in secrecy while attempting to burn the petroleum off the ocean’s surface. Malcolm Coco, who worked for BP for three and a half months, was given the task of setting fire to oil slicks. He also spent time with agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service looking for oil-covered birds.  He relayed his observations to a Louisiana-based environmental toxicology firm, also accusing those overseeing the cleanup operation of threatening to shoot down a news helicopter and euthanizing most of the birds that became covered in oil, instead of trying to save them.

 

In the report compiled by toxicologist Patricia Williams, Coco told how “planes were flying overhead dropping dispersants which rained down on him and the other workers. ... The entire operation was overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard from the ship. There was much secrecy. He had a radio to maintain communication with the ship and overheard voices telling a news helicopter to leave the area or the helicopter would be downed. He was told not to take pictures. However, he and the other workers did take pictures. These pictures verify Mr. Coco’s description of the extensive black clouds rising up from the ignited surface crude oil.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Alarming Info in Oil Spill Toxicology Report (by Sabrina Canfield, Courthouse News Service)

Toxicology Report (Environmental Toxicology Experts LLC) (pdf)

Animals Fleeing Spreading Oil Spill Appear Close to Shore (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

BP Hires Private Security to Keep Away Media (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

10 Animals Most Threatened by BP Oil Spill (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)