RAW STORY IS:
CARBON BALANCED; ALL CARBON EMISSIONS ARE OFFSET!

Coast Guard bans reporters from oil cleanup sites

By Daniel Tencer
Sunday, July 4th, 2010 -- 1:31 pm

oilspillbeachclosed Coast Guard bans reporters from oil cleanup sites

Anderson Cooper: 'We are not the enemy here'

Journalists who come too close to oil spill clean-up efforts without permission could find themselves facing a $40,000 fine and even one to five years in prison under a new rule instituted by the Coast Guard late last week.

It's a move that outraged observers have decried as an attack on First Amendment rights. And CNN's Anderson Cooper describes the new rules as making it "very easy to hide incompetence or failure."

The Coast Guard order states that "vessels must not come within 20 meters [65 feet] of booming operations, boom, or oil spill response operations under penalty of law."

But since "oil spill response operations" apparently covers much of the clean-up effort on the beaches, CNN's Anderson Cooper describes the rule as banning reporters from "anywhere we need to be."

Story continues below...

A "willful" violation of the new rule could result in Class D felony charges, which carry a penalty of one to five years in prison under federal law.

The new rule appears to contradict the promises made by Adm. Thad Allen, the official leading the Coast Guard's response to the oil spill.

"Media will have uninhibited access anywhere we're doing operations, except for two things, if it's a security or safety problem," Allen told ABC News in June.

In defending the new rule, Allen told reporters that he got "complaints from local officials" about the safety of people near cleanup efforts.

"We're not the enemy here," Cooper responded in a report broadcast Thursday night. "Those of us down here trying to accurately show what is happening -- we are not the enemy. I've not heard about any journalist who's disrupted relief efforts; no journalist wants to be seen as having slowed down the cleanup or made things worse. If a Coast Guard official asked me to move, I'd move. But to create a blanket rule that everyone has to stay 65 feet away from boom and boats, that doesn't sound like transparency."

The rule has come under severe criticism not only from journalists but from observers and activists involved in the Gulf Coast clean-up.

"With this, the Gulf Coast cleanup operation has now entered a weird Orwellian reality where the news is shaped, censored and controlled by the government in order to prevent the public from learning the truth about what's really happening," writes Mike Adams at NaturalNews.

"We might expect something like this from Chavez, or Castro or even the communist leaders of China, but here in the United States, we've all been promised we lived in 'the land of the free,'" Adams continues. "Obama apparently does not subscribe to that philosophy anymore (if he ever did)."

Under the rule, reporters or anyone else wishing to get within 65 feet of a cleanup operation need to get permission from the Coast Guard Captain of the Port of New Orleans.

"The fact is we're not attempting to keep anyone from seeing anything," Edward Stanton, the current Coast Guard Captain in New Orleans, told WKRG News in Mobile.

"Nine times out of 10, probably 10 times out of 10” access will be granted, Stanton said.

He said the rule was put into place because of complaints about "boaters interfering with the oil spill operations."

Yet the rule seems on its face to be just the latest attempt to reduce media coverage of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which has now attained the status of worst accidental oil spill in history.

Reporters have been complaining for weeks about BP, the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard working to keep reporters away from wrenching images of oil-covered birds and oil-soaked beaches. On Friday, a photographer from ProPublica was detained by police and BP officials after taking photos of a BP refinery in Texas City, Texas.

Cooper compared the latest effort to prevent access to the oil spill to similar efforts during Hurricane Katrina.

"Frankly it's a lot like in Katrina, where they tried to make it impossible to see recovery efforts of people who died in their homes. If we can't show what is happening, warts and all ... that makes it very easy to hide failure, and hide incompetence."

The following video was broadcast on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, July 1, 2010, and uploaded to YouTube by user djohnsto77.

View Comments to “Coast Guard bans reporters from oil cleanup sites”

  1. ron1127

    BP researchers discover flaming turtles cannot be seen from more than 60 feet?


  2. Cooper should get himself arrested for trying to do his job, now that would be a great story! He could resist, get tazed & all on camera – that would get those CNN ratings up.

    Or how about a journalist flotilla? Of course some of them will be murdered when they get boarded, but again, what a great story!


  3. indi_progressive

    So now the Coast Guard is the enemy as well huh?


  4. dennycrane

    It's been a no fly zone for over a month.


  5. felixthecatxxxx

    “We're not the enemy here,” Cooper responded in a report”

    In the nascent corporate police state that is the USA, yes, yes you are the enemy.


  6. starvapor

    Anderson Cooper is just another flake among the mainstream press that would never take the chance to back up any convictions he may hold about the freedom of the press.
    He would rather maintain his incompetence than let his shirt get ruffled. He needs to grab his balls and walk his talk.


  7. cliffhammond

    Afraid you're right there. How quickly did he fold on 911? Where was he when Bush and Cheney were telling lies to get us into Iraq? Where was he when Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza? The Freedom Flotilla? Obama's approval of assassination of American citizens without a trial? Now he can't get within 65-feet. What? He doesn't have a zoom lens? 65-feet is nothing. 20-yards on a football field.


  8. NadePaulKuciGravMcKi

    Controlled Media
    Extortion Blackmail Bribery

    CNN protects the 9/11 cover-up
    CNN lied to the public about 9/11

    CNN is now expected to protect the toxic gulf cover-up
    CNN is now expected to lie to the public about the toxic gulf


  9. hounddogg

    So the CG and Govt.are writing laws to protect BP? Go figure. I didn't know they could do that! This was never covered in School House Rock! Apparently martial law has been instituted, and they forgot to tell us! These “journalist's” need to grow a set of balls and tell them to stick their made up law up their ass. Thad Allen talks and acts like he is an employee of BP as it is. Every time i see him on TV explaining what BP is going to do, he always says “we” as if he is a spokesperson for them. My fucking tax dollars pay his fucking salary and he is supposed to be looking out for the interests of the American People instead of sucking BP's dick. I guess we know who he will be working for when he “retires”.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law


  10. crackbaby

    Obama is a sold-out hack. I'm sorry I voted for him. very, very, sorry.


  11. This is never good news. It means the accident site is so horrific, it would spark a revolution.


  12. H.P. Loathecraft

    A friend analogized this event as one in which a giant meteor is hurtling earthward at 150,000 mph and the administration is blinking in its general direction like a deer in the headlights. Yeah, I'm guessing its “really horrific”. I suggest that it is possible that the seabed around this gusher is completely shattered and uncontrollable, otherwise, this thing would have been capped a long time ago and James Cameron's submersibles would have been welcome in that zone.


  13. TJoad

    The truth will out. The gulf is dying. The ecosystem is collapsing. The economic repercussions will spread throughout the region affecting the entire nation, if not the global economy. BP should cease to exist. Way past time for some serious regulation of this rogue industry.


  14. nostrafarious

    Great way to celebrate a Fourth of July. “Freedom fucking Rings” now doesn't it? This god damn banana republic IS a police state plain and simple. The elections are bought and paid for. We don't actually elect SHIT. We are run by a corporatocracy and the stage is a Punch and Judy show.


  15. Obama's and BP's strategy of “out -of-sight” “out-of-mind” when dealing with the ordinary citizen is in full force here. Obama and Homeland Security are the big instigators in forbidding access by the news media. The sight of huge loss of marine life washing up on Gulf Coast beaches and wetlands would be devastating to the image of both Obama and BP.

    In addition, if any news crew were to film damaging actions of BP and the National Guard burning oil covered marine animals and birds (alive) they would go straight to jail with no visitors.


  16. 1shivers

    Obama sucks, just like Shrub


  17. wiseturtle

    No different than the old Soviet Union!


  18. wiseturtle

    NWO/Illuminati picks ALL presidents!


  19. wiseturtle

    An empire about to fall.


  20. WhodaThunkit

    For years they have been arresting for smoking flowers, now you are facing arrest for going to the beach. It is a big shit sandwich and everyone has to take a bite


  21. ericroded

    Isn't it magnificent and doesn't it make your typing fingers tingle with rage???

    I know mine do!!!

    I feel like a big fat American fuck about to chomp the leg off a cow!!!

    RAAAAR!!!


  22. berkeleyhoward

    Only Pravda allowed.


  23. ekwhite

    Welcome to the new world order


  24. ekwhite

    Amen to that. We have a Potemkin democracy. We are a police state, and have been since the Reagan administration, possibly since 1968.


  25. ekwhite

    So did I, I'm sorry to say. I fell for the 'change you can believe in' bullshit too. Never again. I have voted for my last Democrat.


  26. MrEpicTruth

    War is Peace
    Ignorace is Strength
    Slavery is Freedom

    INGSOC


  27. peterlawrence

    202-432-1111… phone to the White House… Call it 1st thing Tuesday morning and start screaming… That's what I'm gonna do.


  28. Antinous

    The media wants access, they don't give a damn about the truth.


  29. KPerrotteRHI

    The oil spill has been a PR nightmare for all parties involved and if they can learn anything from this tragedy is that the public has a right to know what is going on. If traditional media is upset, you can be certain that social media will be outraged. Keep the public informed, embrace a policy of transparency and do whatever possible to assure those directly affected have access to the latest information. This is their lives and livelihood at stake.


  30. indi_progressive

    I think your in the wrong article….


  31. Oh Bushbama, is this the transparency you promised??

    It is so transparent how you throw the voter under the corporate bus!

    We know what the Republicans will do and we can prepare for it! You give us no way to prepare for what you will do! That is why I will give you NO support this fall or in 2012 – when Bushbama is gone we can look for a Democrat who will not put corporations ahead of voters!!

    This country needs a Societist now more than ever! We must get the corporatized out of Washington!


  32. So where the hell are the brave Militia members who proclaim their patriotism? Why aren't they on the beaches and shore lines protecting our constitutional freedom of speech? This could be your time to shine Bubba!!!


  33. chophouse

    True. You can photograph or video from 20 yards, but that is just the perimeter … of a large, large area. Also, if you are restructed to 20 yards from the BP defined perimeter, then you have 0 accesss to actually talk to anyone.


  34. dwinstone

    Media is one of the most important tools for balancing government action between civil liberties and government control. Media played dead and allowed the government to foist the Patriot Act on the American public, were complicit in selling intelligence falsehoods and war, and have done little to force the Obama administration to be transparent and accountable. So they are surprised the government is now treating them like they treat the general population???


  35. crazy bullcrap


  36. captainfrank

    Quit being pussies. Get arrested. You are fucking reporters. Fight it in court. You will win.


  37. hounddogg

    having a roach in an ashtray is considered child endangerment…but 20 cops busting your door down ,killing your dogs with assault weapons and beating you in front of your kids is acceptable…legal system fail..


  38. pzykr

    do we need more evidence that there is only one political party representing one constituency in washington? there are only moneycrats representing corporations. citizens? f**k off!

    obama is an abomination to democracy!


  39. Since when does the Coast Guard have the right to make laws? WTF Is up with that? This whole thing stinks of cover up. Since our government got away with white washing 911 and bullying the MSM into refusing to even talk about any variation to the government story line. They've been emboldened to strike down the freedom of speech and the right to a free press. This is a disgrace in a supposedly free country. We're phucked, multinational corporations own our government. Our government is just as corrupt as all the other countries our leaders point their finger at.


  40. psaxe

    What Judge approved this?


  41. This is a clear infringement of freedom of speech. This should be unconstitutional. This is not democracy, at all…


  42. canoetoo

    The rule on its face restricts “vessels.” A reporter on foot is not, last I looked, a vessel. If you're going to write a piece that hinges on a word, at least discuss it in the article. This is faulty reporting; we cannot tell if the regulation deserves to be fought.


  43. Has the US Coast Guard become a treasonous terrorist organization? Why are they fighting AGAINST the United States? Are they being used as a private military by BP to attack our nation? It certainly seems the answer is yes to both those questions.


  44. brianjdonovan

    BP and USCG have been employing an “Out-of-Sight, Out-of-Mind” strategy with the excessive use of dispersants and media control and restriction.

    The National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, more commonly called NCP, is the federal government’s blueprint for responding to both oil spills and hazardous substance releases.

    Pursuant to NCP Section 300.310, “As appropriate, actions shall be taken to recover the oil or mitigate its effects. Of the numerous chemical or physical methods that may be used, the chosen methods shall be the most consistent with protecting public health and welfare and the environment. Sinking agents shall not be used.”

    Sinking agents means those additives applied to oil discharges to sink floating pollutants below the water surface.

    The question is whether BP’s dispersants are “sinking agents” when they are applied a mile underwater at the source of the well leak.

    BP and USCG are knowingly and systematically underestimating the size of the spill to limit the financial impact on the oil company. Under the CWA, the company faces fines of up to $4,300 for each barrel spilled. Furthermore, pursuant to Section 2702 of OPA 90, BP may be required to pay royalties (18.75%) owed to the federal government for the oil gushing from the well.

    For a clear understanding of the issues involved, visit:

    http://renergie.wordpress.com/


  45. H.P. Loathecraft

    Phil Nutytten's sub manufacturing company in North Vancouver, Canada arguably makes the most advanced craft of this sort in the world and has partnered with Cameron on his extensive list of undersea projects going back decades.
    BP is using numerous submersibles of their own presently, since we know one of them crashed into the dome two weeks ago and they had to shut down operations for a half day.
    I have no idea what the Navy has or has not but Cameron has full access to state-of-the art deep-sea technology and BP, and by extension the government, blew him off because they didn't want extra eyes down there.

    Nuytco Research Ltd. is a world leader in the development and operation of undersea technology. Nuytco and its sister company, Can-Dive Construction Ltd. have over thirty years experience working around the world. Nuytco designs, builds, and operates atmospheric diving suits, submersibles, remotely operated vehicles, as well as specialty equipment for commercial diving. Can-Dive is a diving company offering state of the art diving technology and services with a reputation solidly built on underwater innovation and satisfied customers.

    ****

    Nuytco's President and founder, Dr. Phil Nuytten, is recognized as one of the pioneers of the diving industry worldwide. Dr. Nuytten has invented and developed a patented rotary joint technology for use in the revolutionary diving suit called the NEWTSUIT. He also conceived and patented an articulated mating skirt for use in submarine rescue systems (such as the Remora which was recently delivered to the Royal Australian Navy). His current work is aimed at progressing the concepts of deep work in the oceans by the utilization of one-atmosphere vehicles and tools.

    http://www.nuytco.com/


  46. PeggyAttaway

    So we won't get to see what we just saw on Anderson Cooper's video? Think people…we just saw it. As far as 65ft goes, any photographer/videographer who knows what they are doing can work around 65ft. A 300mm lens will knock that out like nothing. As far as the Coast Guard being “treasonous”….seriously…how stupid of a comment. These guys are on a shoestring budget with aging fleet and are still doing other search and rescues, in addition to their responsibilities in the Gulf”. How many more media people need access. We have all seen the photos/vidoe of the birds, marshland, beach cleaners, burning rig, Tony Heyward, etc. Who honestly believes that media is not being made available. For goodness sake, the Coast Guard freeking provides boat tours to the media on a pretty much daily basis. If a building were on a fire, how many media should be allowed to go in?? Geeze..let the Coast Guard do their job. People, do your homework before following the media likes lambs to the slaughter. The media frenzy in the beginning has already trampled the marshland, turtle and bird eggs, We personally saw a “news videographer” knock a 3 year old child to the ground at the event in New Orleans with the New Orleans Saints just to get his shot..People thinkkk.

    http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/...


  47. pzykr

    nascent? or are you just noticing?


  48. Third_stone

    He was and still is the best choice to win an election. He is a compromise candidate, and is compromised, but what were the alternatives? What will the alternatives be next time? Palin vs. Obama? I would have preferred Kucinich, but few even heard of him. Remember everything Obama does he needs to develop a consensus in a totally corrupt congress. How many congressmen are on the take from oil companies today? Likely most of them. If they stand together in opposition, Obama is stuck. Can we get strong corruption laws? Improbable.


  49. Savantster

    And that's the point. You were only presented with people that would ultimately do the bidding of the Mega Corps and ruling elite. … yet, other candidates were out there, blocked by the corporate media. When corporations control the process from “who you can pick” to electronic voting machines you have a full blown corporate fascism on your hands.

    Funny, don't see many anti-corporate tea-baggers.. seems they welcome the fascism.


  50. Savantster

    You seem to think we actually get to see real choices at the National level on National TV. The game has been rigged for a loooong time, it isn't about to change now. The U.S. is going to get a LOT worse before it gets better.. too damn many morons out there who are too busy to pay attention. The irony is they are ignoring the single most important thing in their lives, and for what? a few baubles? .. idiots.


  51. Savantster

    Only if their corporate masters pay for the fancy lawyers. And even then they might not win since the courts are rigged these days too.


  52. Buford

    Your 'building on fire' analogy is accurate, since it makes the point that reporters and responders who are at/in the spill zone are indeed putting their lives at risk in an extremely dangerous environment.

    To expand your analogy, BP is making the firefighters wear shorts and flip-flops instead of necessary protective equipment, while claiming that the flames are harmless to those in their midst.


  53. Anderson Cooper is a CIA plant. He appears to be somewhat anti-establishment but ask yourself this, if he was would he be on CNN?


  54. tazdelaney

    mike adams of naturenews sounds like a right stooge attacking castro, chavez and hina and posing the US as 'the land of the free.' america now makes over 30 million documents, averaging 7 pages each, a top secret classified matter.

    this secretizing of the cleanup of the oil spill… jefferson said, “only criminals and tyrants require secrecy” and also “any government which makes a policy of long keeping serets from its public is no longer working in the best interests of the people.”

    so what is it that BP and the government don't want the public seeing and knowing? i'm reminded that in 1953, CIA and MI6 did the bidding of BP and overthrew the new iranian democracy; installed the vicious shah of iran and backed him for 25 years. the fact is that BP and the oil industry has more of a controlling voice in the US govt than 'we, the people.' we're largely viewed as peons to be treated, as macnamara told LBJ, “like mushrooms… keep em in the dark and feed em BS.”


  55. Sounds like you're a Fox News zombie, and an idiot! Anderson Cooper CIA plant? Journalists are supposed to be skeptical and question authority, which is something you would not know about if all of your news comes from the right wing propaganda machine. It is the only way we have as citizens of finding out what is really going on.


  56. Government Cover-up in Gulf' Liberal Anderson Cooper is pissed.


  57. Leonard2

    Obama and BP must cover up the truth. These actions are an outrage! Facism.


  58. Leonard2

    Obama and BP have to control information, just like Goebbels did. Facism is here.


  59. you may just be right, why else the coverup


  60. We need to see the horrible actions of what is taking place in the gulf so that we will never repeat the process that let this nation become subject to the oil pollution that is killing our wildlife.

    Freedom of press is a Constitutional right; however according to the former clerk of Hawaii we have an UN-Constitutional President. So what can we . . .

    http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/...


  61. lobo214

    Looks like they meant access would only be restricted if it was a security or safety issue for bp, not for citizens or the media we rely on to tell us whats happening.


  62. ekwhite

    Ah yes, the 'lesser of two evils' argument. I fell for that one in 2008. Before that in 2004, 2000, 1996, 1992, etc., etc. What has that gotten us? A world in which the BP's and Exxon Mobil's can pollute as they wish, with no consequences. At my age, I realize that nothing is going to change through the ballot box. I will still vote, but for a candidate that I can vote for without holding my nose.

    Besides which, you are assuming that Obama is not as corrupt as the rest of them. I can't make that assumption, based on his record.


  63. Coast Guard bans reporters from oil cleanup sites | Raw Story…

    I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :)


  64. Ok, where to start on this one. Anderson Cooper creates controversy against the government and anyone else because controversy sells. His position has nothing to do with rights, freedoms, information, enviroment, none of it. His position comes down to making a dollar. Nothing is being hidden down there, there isn't more behind the scenes that people don't know about or anything, it is a biological and political mess. That's it. The restrictions on the media isn't for hiding anything, Its because the media makes the Coast Guard, and BP's efforts more difficult. How productive can you be when you are worried about the safety of some dumb reporter that pushes their way into the middle of things. The media is forceful, not polite, pushy, and persistent. It is hard to accomplish any mission with someone pushing their way into the middle of it, causing safety issues, distracting people from their work, it is ridiculous. Just know that everyone is doing what they can with in their means, going through hell to do it, and need to be left alone to effectively do their jobs. Press conferences will keep you informed. Nothing is being hidden, there is no “story behind the story” don't dramatize something more than it has to be. This isn't a movie.


  65. And one other thing, if Anderson Cooper, or anyone else was really concerned with the clean up effort, how about volunteering their time, resources or money to aid in the clean up instead of criticizing how others are doing it. Just some food for thought


  66. Your concern about a three year old child being knocked to the ground are commendable.

    What are your thoughts on the annihilation of our Gulf?


  67. GjOjOjF

    do u even know what the definition of fascism is. u make yourself sound like an idiot


  68. [...] Read more: HERE [...]


  69. [...] trusted assets of the banker and corporate state. This lock-down on information is enforced by the U.S. Coast Guard, and BP contractors and corporate goons. Even local cops in the Gulf do BP’s bidding. Do you [...]


  70. tik

    I'm not saying the media doesn't overdramatize stories, nor are they polite or report without bias, but how could you just be content with a press conference for your news updates? The media should keep people honest. It would be great to be able to just believe every company and our government are always honest but people are flawed and people lie, cheat, and steal. There have been many accounts of a news story discovering wrong doings of our elected representatives or corporate fraud. If we where to just believe them all the time, we would be ignorant to the lies they feed us and a lot of criminal activity would go without question. I think the US people have a responsibility to see what is going on. We have to keep them accountable, and if we don't see and hear whats going on daily, then these companies and individuals won't have any reason to make up for their mistakes in a timely manner.


  71. [...] Article Link // First Amendment suspended in the Gulf of Mexico as spill cover-up goes Orwellian – Mike Adams (71.5%)"Gulf of Mexico Safety Zone" You could face a $40,000 fine and a felony conviction. (60.4%)Liberal journalists suggest government shut down Fox News (27.1%)March 4th, 2010: Police Attack 880 Interstate Takeover (20.8%)Wikileaks leaked video of Civilians killed in Baghdad – Full video (19.8%)TRUE CONSPIRACY in the making!!! Wiki Leak vs NASA! (19.8%)WikiLeaks – Video Of US Shooting Journalists And Civilians (19.8%)Misleading Photos Used by Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Justify Killing Activists (19.4%)No Secrets: Julian Assange’s Mission for Total Transparency (19.4%)Day 59 – A Living Nightmare of Oil (18.1%)Very strange explanation for vehicles at Jacksonville Airfield (RANDOM – 2.2%) Post Published: 05 July 2010 Author: conspiracyman Found in section: Breaking News, Oil Spill [...]


  72. [...] UPDATE:  More evidence here (h/t bamage): Journalists who come too close to oil spill clean-up efforts without permission could find themselves facing a $40,000 fine and even one to five years in prison under a new rule instituted by the Coast Guard late last week. [...]


  73. Bereken zelf uw hypotheek. Hypotheek berekenen? Maak snel een indicatieve berekening van het maximale leenbedrag van uw hypotheek.


  74. Lenen zonder BKR toetsing gaat vandaag heel gemakkelijk. Binnen een paar uur geld lenen zonder BKR toetsing doet u hier, lees snel verder


  75. I do distrust that I could take a scattershot approach.


  76. I don’t think is laziness at all.


  77. Do I have a good memory?


  78. I want to write that down for posterity.


  79. Here’s the truth touching on.


Leave a Reply

blog comments powered by Disqus