Official says Fed's Oil Spill Commission are "Damn Liars"

[Generic Other]

Run time: 05:22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8jdPUhpRlM   Posted on YouTube: October 11, 2010 By YouTube Member: OilFlorida Views on YouTube: 35   Posted on DU: October 11, 2010 By DU Member: Generic Other Views on DU: 761

 
Oil Spill Blame Game Continues, CNN, October 7, 2010: BILLY NUNGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LOUISIANA:... The contract workers from BP -- I have got to believe that, between the Coast Guard and BP, they don't want to find anything. They want this to be over. And we're still out there picking up oil. And, as we have said, Anderson, from the very beginning, we're fighting more with BP and the Coast Guard -- here we are again -- to leave assets in place to fight this oil. There's no written operational plan. The only plan they give us is a transition plan. And they keep wanting us to sign of on there's no visible oil, when they continue to pick up oil. I don't understand it. It's mind-boggling to me.

COOPER: So, they're asking you to sign off saying you're not seeing oil, but you're saying you're still seeing oil?

NUNGESSER: They continue to want us to go from step two to step three, which means they can pull out any assets they want in the transition plan that we signed a month or so ago to leave assets in place through hurricane season. And, every day, they're ratcheting down, pulling stuff out. And, in this thick document, they say it gives them the right to do that when there's no oil on the surface. But our crews, the local fishermen, are the only ones picking up oil. Somehow, their crews seem not to see anything. It still blows my mind that they have got all these people out there on the payroll not finding any oil, but the local fishermen that they keep trying to downsize keep finding oil.

COOPER: Right. Let me -- let me ask you, this report, in addition to being very critical of the White House, they're also critical of local officials, including yourself. In a section of the report they call the boom wars, they write -- quote -- "President Nungesser deplored the lack of available boom" and that -- quote -- "directions went out to keep the parishes 'happy'" -- in quotes -- "which resulted in operational decisions that may have been politically motivated." They go on to say it was a -- quote -- "serious distraction that took time away from responders' ability to focus on the spill." They were basically saying that, you know, local -- local officials like yourself were calling for more boom. The White House said, you know, keep those parish presidents happy just parish officials happy, and that they were basically deploying boom in places that it didn't need to go to, and that it was useless and may be causing more damage in some places. Do you buy that?

NUNGESSER: Well, no, they're damn liars. And I'm going to tell you this. We never got the first order of ocean boom. The boom they were putting three miles off the island kept washing up every night. We told them from day one it was useless, but they put it out there as a dog-and-pony show. The ocean boom that we asked for that our Coast Guard guys that we were told was in charge that he said order the boom for President Nungesser, never got our first foot of boom. So that's an absolute lie. That's a dog-and-pony show. And, as we always said, BP and the Coast Guard are putting their story together to best defend their actions. And, once again, we're sitting here tonight, still can't tell you, Anderson, who's in charge, still don't know.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love him or hate him, I am blessing Cooper for airing the story.

And dear Billy, a lot of us at DU can tell you who is in charge.

This "We Own the world" attitude is killing us, literally, in so many ways.
It has got to stop!!!

[bherrera]

2. It appears the man Nugesser wants money

I think this is about money. Mr Cooper is providing low quality coverage if he does not report facts, and only the comments from this guy. The facts reported by the USA federal government are more reliable.

[Generic Other]

3. Funny how everyone's motives are suspect but yours

You have no credibility. You post from an area in Spain where BP's largest European refineries are headquartered. You always side with BP against those who are reporting the current situation in the Gulf. If the Feds say it, you accept it uncritically in spite of the fact they have consistently been shown to be lying, wrong, or covering up as evidenced by testimony offered to the Oil Commission investigating the spill.

You question everyone's motives and yet you offer nothing to refute the facts that those in the area report. Are you calling parish officials liars? Are you saying they are not still cleaning up oil that the Feds and BP say isn't there? How do YOU know this? You don't.

All you offer is your biased opinion based on wishful thinking or willful deception.

You are starting to sound like a man passing gas.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. The facts reported by the USA federal government are more reliable.

You forgot the sarcasm tag, there.


I live close to the Gulf.
I know the Gulf area well, from over 30 years of living here.
I know people who live IN a lot of those areas.
I know what they saw, smelt, heard.
I know what even the Republican newspaper in Mobile has printed that supports what Billy is saying.

[Joanne98]

5. There's no doubt that they're lying. We need to know why!