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BP: Troubling example of industry culture |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 08 July 2010 |
BP: Troubling example of industry culture
Editorial
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Sure, it could have happened to anyone. BP certainly is not the only company drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Or in La Plata County. Or on tribal lands. But lately, BP is doing a spectacularly abysmal job of demonstrating why its industry is one we should be forced to play nice with - as neighbors, regulators or host counties.
The most obvious and egregious example of BP's failure to consider the what-ifs associated with its drilling operations is still running roughshod over the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and economies. There is no sign of the havoc being wrought by Deepwater Horizon catastrophe stopping anytime soon, and the last best hope for ebbing the flow - a relief well that is still weeks away from completion - is hardly a sealed deal.
Then there is the small matter of the company's underreporting of royalties paid to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe for coalbed methane development on tribal lands. Oops. Poor BP. It is so confusing marking the correct box on those reporting forms: Natural gas or coal-bed methane. Now which is it? What an odd coincidence that the mistake benefited BP.
Finally, and perhaps most relevant to the discussion, is the trouble that BP is giving Ross Gosney on his Bayfield ranch. The company is installing a pipeline across Gosney's property, and rather than following its own guidelines for doing so, BP appears to once again be hedging its bets that any trouble that ensues from the shortcut will be cheaper to fix than doing the right thing in the first place. Sound familiar? Examples abound in this region and others similarly active with gas and oil production. These are hardly isolated incidents, and the cumulative impacts are noteworthy in what they say about the culture of the gas and oil industry.
Gosney's experience is demonstrative of what appears to be the underlying ethos at BP and other such companies: Do the absolute minimum of what is required so that profits are maximized. This makes sense from a traditional cost-benefit analysis point of view, and when a company throws in $10,000 to $15,000 to save a community fireworks show on the Fourth of July, for example, that is money well spent on public relations - not doing the right thing day after day.
True, BP and other gas companies contribute to the tax bases of the communities in which they operate. But more important than that contribution is these companies' obligation to be good neighbors. That means thinking about how their actions will - or could - affect people whose lives and livelihoods depend on a basic level of care for the land, water and other resources that are affected by drilling. And in this case, thinking about that effect means making contingency plans, and doing the right thing first - not scrambling to undo the damage later.
Sure, it could potentially cost more to take these steps. But given what the alternative costs in environmental damage, property losses, goodwill and public trust, the math should be clear.
http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/Columnists/Thinking_Green/2010/07/08/BP_Troubling_example_of_industry_culture/ |
