For days, as thousands of pounds of oil washed up on the Florida coast, BP officials stuck to an "Oil? What oil?" stance. Despite howling by local officials, fishermen and laid-off cleanup workers, BP officials denied all knowledge of the existence of oil in the area.
On Friday, though, the Coast Guard said that an oil slick roughly a quarter of a mile long lurked just 50 to 60 feet off of the beach at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Then on Saturday a BP spokesman finally acknowledged the slick, saying that the company had "spent considerable effort to get people to concentrate" on cleaning it up.
A local fisherman employed by BP in the cleanup effort told the Pensacola News Journal that the oil giant is trying to sweep the oil under the proverbial rug.
"They're just trying to keep it quiet," he said. "Out of sight, out of mind."
(Photo via Mother Jones)
