The Bs Behind the Biggest Oil Spill in Us History: 2010

By Dwayne Bowen

While working at the Gulf Coast and experiencing the oil spill for himself, Dwayne witnessed all the wrong that took place and decided to write a book about the lies and really show America the truth on the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.



Any questions that were unanswered to the public shall be answered in this book.



Here are a couple of quotes from the author to his readers:



Word to the wise; Everyone who breathes life is only
granted one life, one environment in which we the
human race live it but when we the human race toxify
the food, water, air and lands, its only a matter time
before we all succumb due to others wrong doings and
abuse to the world.



Very few people admit the truth; most people deny the
truth, the rich pays to hide the truth and the less fortunate

die never knowing the truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456734695

Book preview

© 2011 Dwayne Bowen. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 2/14/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4567-3468-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-3469-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011901965

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The BS behind the Biggest Oil Spill in US History: 2010

Introduction

Everything in this book is from my personal experience at the Pascagoula, Mississippi, staging site for the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill. At the time, I had been working in the environmental field for over thirteen years, and I had never seen a work site so unorganized. After reading this book, most people will, I believe, feel the same way I do with regard to the biggest oil spill in US history.

Each and every day, working at this job site made me realize more and more how unsafe and dangerous the staging area really was. The sad thing is that over 95 percent of the people working there did not have any relevant knowledge about or past experience working on an oil spill. One of my biggest concerns for these people was the combination of a lack of safety and a lack of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in dealing with this type of situation.

During my time at the staging area, I noticed ten major problems:

1. The types of food that were served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

2. The way the food was stored

3. No designated primary or secondary meeting area for head count in case of an emergency

4. Gasoline cans stored in an unsafe area and not grounded

5. Same carts that were used to haul garbage also used to haul food to the cafeteria

6. The process of hiring new employees

7. Company favoritism

8. Poor leadership

9. Women wearing tight clothing on the job site

10. False promises made to the workers

And the list goes on and on.

Through all of my years working in this environmental field, I have done tons of oil cleanups. I have also witnessed people losing their lives by taking shortcuts and not following rules and regulations. So it was my duty to teach these seven hundred men and women more about the line of work they were about to get into.

My love for and pride in this line of work wouldn’t allow me to keep my mouth closed about these violations and unsafe work conditions. Please don’t misinterpret the information I am bringing forth as retribution or anything other than an honest reporting of the facts.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Olly and Red for keeping me updated with all the new information from the staging area and the beach crews. I would like to thank Debbie for allowing me to include her report of her incident in this book, and I want to thank the safety officer Donna for all her information and ideas for some of my classes. In addition, I thank Carlos for being my assistant and putting up with my bright ideas and Delio, Batman, Alex, Walter, Jonathan, Francis, Orlando, Kevin, Farris, and Shawn for helping me run a tight ship and being on top of their game each and every day. I would like to thank Jeff, Pat, and TJ for giving me the opportunity to work alongside them on the biggest oil spill in US history. I would also like to thank Junior, my roommate and confidante. And I offer my thanks to everyone on my crew for giving me their all and not going against the grain. Last but not least, I would like to thank everyone who attended my classes at the staging area.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Getting the Call

Chapter 2

Reporting for Duty

Chapter 3

Second Staging Area

Chapter 4

Feeling a Need

Chapter 5

A Household Name

Chapter 6

Unqualified Supervisors

Chapter 7

The Cold Shoulder

Chapter 8

Students become Teachers

Chapter 9

Alleged Sexual Harassment

Chapter 10

Health and Safety Issues

Chapter 11

Major Gaps in the Safety Plan

Chapter 12

Unscreened Employees

Chapter 13

Dangerous Conditions

Chapter 14

Finally Cleaning Up Oil

Chapter 15

Childish Attitudes

Chapter 16

Process of Elimination

Chapter 17

The Rape

Chapter 18

The Death

Chapter 19

Crew Favoritism

Chapter 20

Change for the Better

Chapter 21

New Schedule and Hurricane

Chapter 22

Last Days and False Promises

Chapter 23

Where Did the Oil Go? And Will It Ever Come Back?

Chapter 24

The Aftermath

Chapter 1

Getting the Call

It was 11:15 a.m. on May 6, 2010, when I received a call and was asked if I wanted to go to Mississippi to help clean up the BP Gulf Coast oil spill. Knowing that I would be a part of the biggest oil spill in US history and also contributing to cleaning up the environment, without hesitation I said yes.

On Saturday morning, May 8, my crew of eight and I caravanned down the New Jersey Turnpike headed for Moss Point, Mississippi. In total we had four vehicles: two pickup trucks and two eighteen-wheelers. We didn’t stop until we reached Baltimore, Maryland, where we pulled in to a rest stop so some could use the restroom while others stretched their legs and used their cell phones. I guess we were there for about fifteen minutes.

Before getting back on the road, we all gathered by my pickup truck and talked about how no one in the crew had been so far down south. From that quick conversation, I could tell that everyone in my crew was very eager and ready to work.

Around nine o’clock on Saturday night, we arrived in North Carolina. We called it a night and checked into a hotel. Before they went to their rooms, I called a brief meeting with my crew. I wanted to make sure that everyone would be ready to continue on our way to Mississippi by six o’clock in the morning. After our briefing, I grabbed a cart from the hotel lobby to unload my bags. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my