BP contractor denies beefing up workers just for Obama visit
(CNN) - An independent contractor supplying workers to clean up an oil spill on the Gulf Coast denied Saturday that his company sent more workers to Grand Isle, Louisiana on Friday just because President Barack Obama was going to visit that site.
Donald Nulty of Environmental Safety and Health - hired by BP to supply clean-up workers - denied a Gulf Coast official's claim that it sent the workers to Grand Isle in a "dog and pony show" to coincide with the president's visit.
"Absolutely, without a doubt, no. I had no idea about the president," Nalty told CNN. "Whether it's the president or whatever dignitary is coming into the area, it makes no difference to us. We're there to clean up Grand Isle."
Councilman Chris Roberts of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana accused BP on Friday of shipping workers to Grand Isle for Obama's visit and sending them away after the president left.
On Saturday, however, Nulty told CNN that his company decided several days before it knew of Obama's visit that it would send 400 workers to Grand Isle on Friday.
BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles downplayed the claim Friday evening, telling CNN it is not unusual to see people wrapping up work in the afternoon.
"These individuals are working out in the heat of the sun. These are long days. They start early in the morning and they stop early in the evening," he said. "So the fact that they were leaving the location late in the afternoon was not unusual. It's not associated with the president arriving."
Suttles added that the workers would be back Saturday morning to continue working.
From CNN Politics
- Trump weighs early 2024 launch as January 6 committee looms over his future
- Score Major Rewards if You Have an Excellent Credit Score
- The Supreme Court makes it clear there's a red America and a blue America
- Untitled
- 11 key points from 6 insurrection hearings
- Where abortion 'trigger laws' and other restrictions stand after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade
And now that it is Saturday, have they in fact returned?
Kinda important to the story, no?
News really sucks today, they stop the top kill for 16 hours and nobody knows about it. That live feed is really providing a load of info...
Then why were the workers not allowed to speak? This was surely staged for the president's visit. Dumb and dumber!
BP needed to provide the workers to make obama's photo-op look realistic. But now that the event is over everyone can go back to business as usual. obama off to play golf and watch basketball and everyone else can go their seperate ways.
Charade over!
And why would we believe BP THIS time ??
I believe the "Top Kill" is a faliure. It will take months to stop the leak and years to clean up the coast. America was warned back in 1990's gulf oil leak and that lead to this biggest disaster on record as of today. We need a "Climate Enegery Bill" to move away from the fossil fuel. I hope we will get support from coastal community. This is America wake up call.
Then why were the workers instructed not to answer reporters questions as reported on CNN?
to be honest i trust BP as much as I trust myself not to eat this double chocolate chip cake. They have lied several times and just as an fyi could you please tell the executives to quit trying to look so pityful while being interviewed...its not working