Who Can You Trust? Oil-Spill Edition

“Who Can You Trust?” is an ongoing look at some of the main players in the gulf oil-spill disaster. We analyze the media appearances and public statements of those covering, controlling, and combating the spill to determine who’s spinning for personal advantage, who’s playing to the crowd, and who (or what) we can truly count on.

Darryl Willis
BP's Vice President for Resources

Willis, a Louisiana native, is the new face of BP, showing up in ads and on the news. He's also the guy who oversees and approves the claim payments given to fishermen, businessmen, and others economically affected by the spill. It's too soon to say how he's doing in that job—though we are encouraged by reports that he's trying to work with residents who don't have years of paperwork—and Who Can You Trust? remains skeptical of all BP officials. But we're also charmed by his honesty. In an interview with John Hockenberry, from Public Radio International's "The Takeaway," he admitted that he wasn't familiar with BP's Liberty drilling project in Alaska, and he got his information about the dislodge cap from the news. His lack of media polish, and his affection for the gulf, is a nice change from all this PR spin. 
Pay attention: as the claims process plays out. His frankness is refreshing, but refreshing doesn't pay for groceries.  

Beach Cleanup Efforts
Damage Control

Workers are doing the best that they can to get the oil mats and tar balls off of Pensacola's sugar-sand beaches. But they can't move fast enough in the Florida heat: the high temperatures keep the oil loose and liquid, and it's able to slip through the sand. As a result, the cleanup effort is often only superficial. A Pensacola News Journal reporter found that after workers left a seemingly pristine beach, a little digging turned up oil sludge below the surface.
Pay attention: to the beach-cleaning machines authorities are auditioning for faster cleanup. 

Doug Suttles
BP America's Chief Operating Officer

Suttles was an early face of the BP response, then slipped out of rotation around Memorial Day. He's still been an active on-the-ground presence, touring beach sites and meeting with local officials. Yesterday, he gave an interview to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, repeatedly commenting that the rate of flow from the well was both an imprecise science and totally irrelevant. "The flow rate never impacted the response," he's quoted as saying, to which the Picayune responds by noting that BP's recovery plans have received criticism from federal officials: because those plans were based on lowball flow rates, they didn't include enough resources to be realistic. The Picayune also points out that BP will have to pay damages based on the amount of oil that's spilled, making those rates relevant to at least the oil company's accounting corps.
Pay attention: to the current estimates for the oil spill: 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day. 

Weekend Vacation Plans
Summer Fun

Pensacola, Fla., beaches were closed for the first time since the spill, thanks to a large volume of oil washing ashore, and the NOAA forecast for the next 72 hours shows oil continuing to make landfall. "No swimming" notices were posted farther east in Destin, where the above video was shot. 
Pay attention: to the specific reports on specific beaches, not our nervous prognostication. The level of oil in the water changes from day to day, and sometimes it's safe to swim. Mississippi beaches have been relatively unaffected, as Gov. Haley Barbour would no doubt like us to mention, though oil is heading toward the state's barrier islands.  

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