BP Station Owner Says Vandals Just Don't Understand

Johan Lammers's Twitter

A few days ago, it was discovered that someone had brazenly vandalized the Houston Street BP gas station sign with black paint. Now BP has to go through the hassle of sending the station's owner a new sign, when they could be focusing on stopping the oil leak. The owner of the station, which was the site of a big demonstration Friday night, spoke with the Daily News but refused to be identified. "They don't understand that they're not hitting BP, they're hitting an independent business man," said the big oil sympathizer, who added, "The contract we signed (with BP) was several years before the oil spill." Whatever, that's like saying you JOINED THE SS before HITLER invaded POLAND.

Meanwhile, BP is moving forward with Plan... E? It involves lowering a smaller containment dome than the one they tried first, and pumping methanol and heated water to try and stop hydrates (icelike crystals of gas and water) from forming and blocking the oil from escaping, which is what went wrong last time. But before they can lower the cap, they're working on cutting the riser pipe at the ruptured well. During the second cut today, the diamond wire blade got stuck, and Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen has told reporters that BP "will attempt to work the blade out of the pipe or possibly lower a second saw down to the pipe." Oh, and one downside of cutting the pipe is that it will start leaking 20% more oil.

If that doesn't work, there's always Hollywood. BP previously turned to Kevin Costner for salvation, but step aside Postman, James Cameron is on the case. The director was among a group of scientists and other experts who met with officials from the EPA yesterday for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak. Cameron has a lot of experience filming deep underwater, so we're guessing the spill cam will soon be coming to you live in Digital 3D. "James Cameron was in the room and knows many of the scientists and engineers who participated," an official at the meeting tells the Post.

In Washington, the Attorney General's office announced a criminal probe against BP, and Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs says his normally unflappable boss is "enraged at the time that it’s taken" to stop the leak. "I’ve seen rage from him," Gibbs told reporters, adding that the White House did not think BP "was forthcoming on what the impact would be of cutting the riser off." To drive the point home, the Daily News has compiled an infuriating list of comments made by BP CEO Tony Hayward since the leak started. Like this boner, made on May 18th: "The environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on June 2, 2010 11:34 AM

Comments [rss]

Amanda Harletsch

check it:::

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

John Del Signore

Absolutely heartbreaking.

REALITY CHECK

To give an idea of the size of the leak: http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/

BKWrxWgn

Sucks that the owner of this station has not only pay BP every month and now to have to deal with protesters. I'm sure there's tons of profits being made regardless, but still he's right in a sense that it's his own business. If people want to protest the oil industry than they better demand their landlords to stop using oil that gives these very same protesters their hot water and heat during the winter time too.

gothamguy

I wonder if the contract he signed with BP has any sort of clause which prevents him from putting a sign up that says "hey, I'm pissed at BP too but I don't work for them."

I feel for the station owner. It isn't as if he could just start buying from someone else, and even if he did, there is plenty to protest about any oil company.

NattyB

Yah,

I'm all for "Down with BP!" like the next guy, but the gas stations themselves are independtly run.

seriously, the guys who run the gas stations are just small business owners, and actually, they're the ones who get f'ed by BP the worst since they lack leverage in their licensing agreements with BP.

robingee

True! Most of the money they make is from the convenience stores attached to the gas station. And switching to another provider? It's not that easy. Besides, any oil company's rig could bust.

We should try to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. Small things make a big diff.

fosiacat

is that a banksy?

hotstepper

highly effective protest hippies. now off to your mom's house to snort some adderall, smoke some weed, play video games, and commiserate about the evil imperialist empire and shit, man.

dimes

Way to Godwin yourself Signore.

reallynoreally

This post is trying incredibly hard to be snarky, and therefore, fails. I like your weather posts though.

Whammo

Sarcasm? Rarely works in print form. I learned that in 6th grade.

chuzzlewit

ah, the wisom of youth.

drewo

I'm still waiting for the usual gang of showbiz types to organize a telethon, or a benefit concert, to help raise funds for the cleanup, or to help raise funds to financially assist those communities and businesses seriously affected by this disaster. Kind of like we see after massive earthquakes - like the one that recently happened in Haiti.

But so far no concerts or rallies. Is that because all the oil that would be used to transport bands and equipment to a concert sort of underlies the problem of oil usage? That we Americans are addicted to consuming this oil? That we are part of the problem? The oil spill is not such a black/white issue like an earthquake -- earthquake: bad, oil spill: uh-oh.

The spill is terribly complex, and even a fix does not address the bigger issue - our dependence on the black crude. So our opportunist entertainers, generally eager to jump on the PC bandwagon, are steering clear of this sticky issue.

On the other hand, our President spent a good chunk of his campaign speeches talking about a Green Revolution. How, as president, he would begin the slow, painful process of scaling down our dependence on oil, both foreign and domestic, and how he would push for homegrown sources of renewable energy.

Wouldn't this be a good time for him to make a statement, to announce some sort of new program that would provide incentives to develop renewable energy resources? And at the same time, tell the American public about his plans to reduce or remove the tax breaks and subsidies provided to Big Oil. And to clearly draw a line between our nations dependence on oil and the kind of disasters that this dependence engenders.

Sure, such an announcement would draw all kinds of criticism at this time. But it would show a President demonstrating a little spine - backing up a campaign promise, regardless of the feathers it may ruffle.

But I do not expect that kind of bold stance at this time from our President. Just like the our out-of-sight entertainers, I expect to hear silence.

Radbecca

But so far no concerts or rallies.

Really? Does everything have to happen in NYC for it to exist? Lenny Kravitz, Mos Def, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, BeauSoleil, Ani DiFranco, Tab Benoit, Trombone Shorty... they all showed up for Gulf Aid (gulfaid.org). It was a big deal back home and here's proof: http://www.spin.com/articles/kravitz-legend-mos-def-headline-gulf-aid-concert

robingee

There are celebrities contributing money to the cleanup. Some of them you read about and some of them don't need to talk about it and draw attention to themselves. Unlike Oprah, who puts out an hour-long special whenever she does something "charitable."

drewo

Obama picks up the ball:

Amid spill anger, Obama asks cut in oil tax breaks

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5juui7didNwh_vzBmJyrbjxkeF-IgD9G3DC182