BP can't seem to cap the Gulf oil spill but the company seems to be ramping up efforts to cut off media access to the disaster.
News outlets say restrictions on plane and boat traffic are leaving them with just limited access to areas affected by what has become one of the worst spills in U.S. history, the AP reports.
U.S. Coast Guard and FAA officials say BP isn't controlling media access. They deny there's an effort to hide the scope of the disaster. They say the complexity of the spill makes it tough to allow open access to the media.
But CBS News reported that one of its news teams was threatened with arrest by the Coast Guard and turned away from an oiled beach. The reporters were told the denial was under "BP's rules."
Charter pilots, meanwhile, say they have been denied permission to fly below 3,000 feet when they have reporters or photographers aboard.
And oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau was turned away from waters near a wildlife sanctuary after the Coast Guard discovered an AP reporter and photographer were on board.
In an editorial, the Houston Chronicle wrote that the media must have unrestricted access in order to cover the spill.
The paper described what it called BP's "ham-handed attempts to restrict media coverage," adding: "BP officials seem to be more adept at cutting off information flows than oil leaks."
Noting efforts by BP and the Coast Guard personnel to block journalists from areas where the the oil slick was coming ashore, the paper added: "If there's one thing the government shouldn't be doing in this disaster, it is restricting reporters from covering it."
Meanwhile, the blog Powering A Nation posted contracts that it said BP required local workers involved in the oil spill cleanup to sign. The contracts put those workers, usually area fishermen, at risk of losing their jobs if they spoke with the media, the blog said. The company later rescinded those clauses of the contracts dealing with the media, the blog said.
Photo above: A pelican tries to clean its wings while standing on a rock in the water near Grand Isle, Louisiana. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
Related Links:
How Do Oil Spills Damage the Evironment?
Hurricanes Plus Oil Spill Could Increase Environmental Damage in Gulf
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