Smart Pig: BP's OTHER Spill this WeekBP has a habit of hunting down and destroying the careers of those who warn of pipeline problems.Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 05/28/2010 - 10:32am.
GREG PALAST FOR BUZZFLASH
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On Tuesday, Pump Station 9, at Delta Junction on the 800-mile pipeline, busted. Thousands of barrels began spewing an explosive cocktail of hydrocarbons after "procedures weren't properly implemented" by BP operators, say state inspectors "Procedures weren't properly implemented" is, it seems, BP's company motto.
Few Americans know that
BP owns the controlling stake in the trans-Alaska pipeline; but, unlike with the Deepwater Horizon, BP keeps its Limey name off the Big Pipe.
There's another reason to keep their name off the Pipe: their management of the pipe stinks. It's corroded, it's undermanned and "basic maintenance" is a term BP never heard of.How does BP get away with it? The same way the Godfather got away with it: bad things happen to folks who blow the whistle.
BP has a habit of hunting down and destroying the careers of those who warn of pipeline problems.In one case,
BP's CEO of Alaskan operations hired a former CIA expert to break into the home of a whistleblower, Chuck Hamel, who had complained of conditions at the pipe's tanker facility. BP tapped his phone calls with a US congressman and ran a surveillance and smear campaign against him. When caught, a US federal judge said BP's acts were "reminiscent of Nazi Germany."more:
http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributors/3238