Independent monitoring of contamination
Wildlife and environmental groups accused BP of holding back information about the extent and impact of the growing slick, and urged the White House to order a more direct federal government role in the spill response. In prepared testimony for a congressional committee, National Wildlife Federation President Larry Schweiger said BP had failed to disclose results from its tests of chemical dispersants used on the spill, and that BP had tried to withhold video showing the true magnitude of the leak.
"The federal government should immediately take over all environmental monitoring, testing and public safety protection from BP," he said. "The Gulf of Mexico is a crime scene and the perpetrator cannot be left in charge of assessing the damage."[80]
On May 20, 2010 Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that the U.S. government will verify how much oil has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. "We're not depending on what BP is telling us," Salazar said.[95] On the same day, the heads of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland Security told BP chief executive Tony Hayward in a letter that the company had "fallen short" of its promises to keep the public and the federal government informed about the spill, writing that "BP must make publicly available any data and other information related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that you have collected." EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano asked for the results of tests looking for traces of oil and dispersant chemicals in the waters of the gulf. BP did not respond Thursday to requests for comment about the letter, the Washington Post reported in a story titled, "Estimated rate of oil spill no longer holds up."[96] Reuters quoted the letter as also stating "In responding to this oil spill, it is critical that all actions be conducted in a transparent manner, with all data and information related to the spill readily available to the United States government and the American people ... those efforts, to date, have fallen short in both their scope and effectiveness."[81]
On May 18, 2010, CBS reporter Kelly Cobiella tried to visit the beaches in the Gulf of Mexico to report on the disaster. She was met by BP contractors and American Coast Guard officers who threatened her with arrest if she did not leave. The Coast Guard officials specified that they were acting under the authority of BP.[97]
shit is so fucking shady.