http://www.local15tv.com/news/local/story/Limited-Media-Access-to-Oil-Spill/nMrxI92lV0emdWl4CfxXPg.cspx?rss=217

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Media organizations say they are being allowed only limited access to areas impacted by the Gulf oil spill through restrictions on plane and boat traffic that are making it difficult to document the worst spill in U.S. history.

The Associated Press, CBS and others have reported coverage problems because of the restrictions, which officials say are needed to protect wildlife and ensure safe air traffic.

Ted Jackson, a photographer for The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans, said Saturday that access to the spill "is slowly being strangled off."

A CBS news story said one of its reporting teams was threatened with arrest by the Coast Guard and turned back from an oiled beach at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The story said the reporters were told the denial was under "BP's rules."

U.S. Coast Guard and Federal Aviation Administration officials said BP PLC, the company responsible for cleaning up the spill, was not controlling access.

Coast Guard officials also said there was no intent to conceal the scope of the disaster. Rather, they said, the spill's complexity had made it difficult to allow the open access sought by the media.

Coast Guard Lt. Commander Rob Wyman said personnel involved in the CBS dispute said no one was threatened with arrest.

Vessels responding to the spill are surrounded by a 500 yard "standoff area" with restricted access, he said.

"If we see anybody impeding operations, we're going to ask you to move. We're going to ask you to back up and move away," he said.

BP contractors are operating alongside the FAA and Coast Guard at command centers that approve or deny flight requests. Charter pilots say they have been denied permission to fly below 3,000 feet when they have reporters or photographers aboard.

Those special flight restrictions, imposed on May 12, cover thousands of square miles of the Gulf and a broad swath of Louisiana's coast. Normally there are no restrictions on flying.

The chief of the Coast Guard's public affairs programs branch said access had been hampered by a cumbersome approval process that stretched all the way to the White House.

Chief Warrant Officer Adam Wine said White House officials had to sign off on requests for tours of the spill zone before they could proceed. The Coast Guard is attempting to increase access through guided boat and aircraft tours, he said. Still, there is no plan to lift restrictions on flights or boat traffic into offshore
areas - including some barrier islands.

White House officials referred questions about their involvement to Wyman. He said Wine's description of the chain of command was incorrect and that all requests from media were decided on by the command center in Robert, La. The Department of Homeland Security is notified, he said.

Two weeks ago, oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau was turned away from waters near a wildlife sanctuary after the Coast Guard discovered a reporter and a photographer from The Associated Press were on board.

Jackson, The Times-Picayune photographer, said he had been kept back from oil-covered beaches and denied a request to fly below 3,000 feet.

"The oil spill from there is just a rumor," he said.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said hundreds of flights related to the recovery effort go each day into the restricted airspace. She said aircraft from the oil industry and law enforcement also are allowed in those areas.

So where's the surprise here ... ? The Regime is micromanaging the news the way it did during the campaign. It's not gonna meet any resistance to this Stalinist practice 'cuz they're already the propaganda arm of the Regime. Might as well change their collective name(-s) to 'Tass', 'Pravda' and 'Isvestia' ... won't be one damned bit of difference between 'em ... Don't expect many independents to be granted access, either - they're the enemy.

And why is that?
Aren't we allowed to know how bad it is or what?

Drill baby drill! Same people pushing for it now bitching of the conseqences! Thx for ruining the most prestine beachs and some of the worlds best fishing in the world! So THANK YOU. ITS COMING AND YOU CANT STOP IT, SIGHNED: FT Myers Beach

My hometown will never be the same, since 2005. Thats why I don't want to live there anymore.

Anyone care to bet that BP walks away from this without any consequences?

You from N'Awlins too ... ? Small world, ain't it ... ? I have no intention of ever returning. I've lost enough - I will NOT lose the last thing I have, which are the memories of the city as it existed PRE-Katrina ...

Of course. Just like the crooked banks and CEOs can get away without a scratch during the most massive economic crisis since the 20s.

Justice Dept. hangs up AIG criminal investigation
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/05/24/am-justice-dept-hangs-up-aig-criminal-investigation/


Same sht.. different type of destruction.

Someone will pay a lot of money ..but not to fix the problem, but the shut up the ones who should be saying something, doing something, investigating something. In a nutshell: Just another day in Washington DC

No consequences ... ? Surely you jest ... I mean, 'The ONE' will probably give 'em a medal and another 'safety award' for helping him destroy any chances we ever had for energy independence in this country ... no consequences - that's crazy talk ...

I was raised up in Gulfport and we would go to Pontchartrain Beach 3 or 4 times a summer.

In the mid 70's, I lived on the streets, slept in Jackson Square and handed out restaurant fliers for a place called the Lobster Trap off Bourbon.

If you took the Canal Street Ferry across the river, there were one or two Highrise Ghettos there. Do you recall their names?

Well, to use a 'N'Awlins'-ism ... "Where y' at, brah?" ... I know, some people say 'bro' - we didn't ... we used the 'yat' pronunciation ... I remember the Lobster Trap from when I played music in the Quarter - yeah, on Bourbon St ... good times back then. You might also remember one of the other 'stand-out' places - 'Club My-O-My' ... or the 'Blue Angel' ... Can't help y' out with the 'hi-rise ghettos', tho' unless you're talkin' about the Fischer Projects. At one time in my life I called on customers there when I ran an insurance debit route. One morning at breakfast, I read a story (with picture) about a telephone installer who was found shot to death in his van - all he was doin' was tryin' to provide phone service. I got to my office and called my customers in Fischer and told 'em if they wanted to keep their policies effective, either walk the premium to the office or mail it in, 'cuz I wasn't comin' there no more ... I know there was another project near Fischer, tho' ... if y' want some interesting reading about Fischer, check out the demographics here:

http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Fischer-Project-New-Orleans-LA.html

I don't have any intention of ever returning to N'Awlins ... I left after Katrina and I'm stayin' left ...

And all this time, I thought you wuz a rat-wanged extermist radial!

Y' mean I'm NOT ... ? Dang ...

I don't think so, we have some strong Senator's in office that wont cave to the Osama regime and will make BP pay for this.

the govt has nothing to do with BP...then again i didnt hear any neocons cry when bush wanted ny times censored for its dissent on the war

That's because it didn't happen!

Its about the same agenda thats been there for years **** the illuminati and the NWO

Anybody remember this from the 'Immaculation Speech' given by 'The ONE' ... ?

" ... President Obama: "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow! And our planet began to heal!" ... "

If he can promise that his election will stop "the rise of the oceans" and that he will make the planet somehow miraculously "heal", HOW COME he can't stop a single oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico? THIS is just something else to make people want to see REAL 'hope' and 'change' ... but it ain't gonna happen.

You realize the Illuminati have been non-existant for centuries now right?