 |
         
|
NBC decided to lead with the seadbed video of BP's robot submarines attaching a containment cap to siphon off crude from the leaking pipe to a surface ship. Anne Thompson got technical with us, explaining how warm water and methanol were being pumped down to prevent hydrate crystals from forming in the frigid deep sea water. Such crystals would clog the siphon, forcing the oil to continue to gush outwards. Only after the pipe is crystal free would vents, through which crude continues to escape, be closed and the surfacebound volume increase.
Sharyl Attkisson, in CBS' Washington bureau, offered her insight into why BP would have an interest in minimizing the volume of the leak. The corporation faces a fine of $4,300 for each day for each barrel that leaks. Last week, Attkisson reported, the Department of the Interior published a BP estimate that the volume of the leak was between 12K and 19K barrels each day, a $2bn fine so far. "Spinning the numbers," was how Attkisson put it. It turns out that those figures were BP's estimates for the minimum size of the leak: "The upper end of the range, a maximum, has not yet been released."
Speaking of BP's underestimate of the scope of the calamity, NBC's Thompson reminded us that CEO Tony Hayward had claimed that there was "no scientific evidence" that gigantic plumes of crude oil were forming in Gulf of Mexico waters. She quoted a University of South Florida finding that corrected the CEO: "Lab tests confirm the existence of two massive layers of oil droplets far beneath the surface of the sea."
ABC's Bill Weir filed a brief profile of CEO Hayward, the triathlon running, soccer supporting, downhill skiing, global yachtsman with a $4.5m annual salary. Weir dug up a self-incriminatory Hayward soundbite from a Stanford University seminar last summer in which he boasted that he had scaled back BP's commitment to environmental sustainability: "We had too many people that were working to save the world. We, sort of, lost track of the fact that our primary purpose in life is to create value for our shareholders."
You must be logged in to this website to leave a comment. Please click here to log in so you can participate in the discussion.
