Oil and Access

Now that the Coast Guard has created a "safety zone" around Gulf oil spill cleanup efforts, it's imperative that the government doesn't allow it to become a blackout zone.

Unified Command has established a 65-foot perimeter around boom, staging areas and oil spill response vessels on water and beaches (it initially sought a 300-foot buffer). Violators are subject to civil penalties of up to $40,000, and could be classified as Class D felons. In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration has ordered that no media flights to photograph the spill can go below 3,000 feet without special permission.

Officials say the restrictions are necessary to protect the people and equipment involved in the cleanup. Cmdr. Mike Frender told the Panama City News Herald's Sarah Owen this week that "this just makes it a penalty if you're caught vandalizing boom or anything." Franklin County, Fla., reports at least two instances where someone intentionally cut boom lines.

Certainly, tampering with boom and other equipment is a stupid and destructive act that should be criminalized. But that's different than being within 64 feet of it. There are many legitimate reasons to be that close to oil cleanup efforts — for instance, media reporters and photographers attempting to document the damage and the progress (or lack thereof) in fixing it.

Cmdr. Frender said he saw no reason why the media couldn't get close to the booms and beaches to report on the spill.

"As long as you're not touching it, scribbling on it, nobody's going to bother you, I wouldn't think," he said.

That's reassuring.

Let's hope it's true, because it's not unheard of for governments to use such "zones" to restrict press access or diminish protests. For example, "free-speech zones" often have been employed to keep peaceable protests far away from their intended targets (i.e., public officials).

CNN's Anderson Cooper recently harshly criticized the Coast Guard's "safety zone" policy on air. He argued that the 65-foot buffer made it much more difficult to get pictures of oil-soaked birds or boom. Similarly, photographers for the New Orleans Times-Picayune said it was already difficult to capture images of oiled birds when at the edge of the boom. Adding an additional 65-foot buffer means "you'd have to mount a telescope" to the camera to get a clear picture, photographer Matthew Hinton said.

"Keeping prying eyes off beaches ... is now government policy," Cooper said.

He said CNN asked Unified Command why the restrictions were just now being implemented, more than two months after the Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred. Officials told the network that they had "gotten some complaints from local officials" that people might get hurt. Cooper said he had heard far more local officials asking for greater media coverage of the environmental damage the oil has done to their communities.

"We are not the enemy," Cooper said repeatedly. Indeed.

Because a free-for-all flotilla of civilians could interfere with cleanup efforts, it's understandable that officials would want to ensure the media are organized. Keeping them at bay, though, is unacceptable. Safety must be balanced with the public's right to know. Access to report this ongoing story cannot be compromised.

REPRINTED FROM THE PANAMA CITY NEWS HERALD.

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