Shell calls North Sea spill siginficant, but won't give details

Oil giant Shell is struggling to contain the worst North Sea spill in a decade amid criticism over how honest the company is being with the public. The spill, which has continued through a second leak after the company had initially said the incident was "under control," was reportedly discovered last Wednesday but was only made public over the weekend.

Shell has chosen to update people on the spill with a brief message each day on its British website. "Shell is providing information only reluctantly; that must change," said Jörg Feddern of the German chapter of the environmental organization Greenpeace. Richard Dixon, the director of WWF Scotland, has called for a public inquiry into the incident: "Any inquiry will need to look at what Shell knew when, what they did about it and what they told their regulators and the public. It is already obvious that Shell will be strongly criticized for giving out so little public information so grudgingly."

The leak is on the Gannet Alpha rig about 112 miles (180 kilometers) east of the Scottish city of Aberdeen. Glen Cayley, technical director for Shell's exploration and production in Europe, defended the company's policy, insisting the company had had to ensure the information was reliable before releasing it. Since then, he says, the public has been informed continuously. And since the weekend, Shell has provided more details in discrete doses: The company, for example, will rely on the forces of nature to remove the oil. It said high winds and waves were dissipating the spill, which was not expected to reach the shore.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,780723,00.html

:grr:

BP had a camera down on the Gulf floor, revealing the horrible oil spill. They did press updates
and interviews. The story was big. Oh boy, did BP pay for that. The people actually knew what
was happening.

I think that's the last time we'll EVER be told the truth about any disaster.

The clamp down on Fukushima, I'm convinced, is a direct result of lessons learned from BP.

Shell is covering up because they can. These corporations don't have to do anything, anymore. They
aren't even beholden to our government. When the EPA told BP to stop dumping Corexit into the Gulf,
BP ignored our EPA. Then, they used our own Coast Guard to patrol the beaches and to threaten reporters
who were trying to take pictures of oil-soaked wildlife. Welcome to Fascism people.

These corporations have learned that covering up is in their best interests and since they own our government
and any regulatory agency that might be able to force these corporations to be honest and accountable--nothing
will be done.

We are truly on our own.