In the BP oil spill mishap, 11 people died and the environment is damaged so badly that even today the wildlife is suffering. I believe it was an accident and BP could not have done much to stop it. But, as a responsible corporation BP should have prepared for such accidents. The oil spill continued for more than 8 days and then CEO of BP Tony Hayward said “There's no one who wants this over more than I do. I'd like my life back." Which was anything but insensitive in those circumstances? The accident killed 11 people and killed birds, sea animals and corals (Kamran, 2012). The CEO should have been more careful and empathetic.
BP did not have an oil spill plan for the low probability and high consequence event according to Greg McCormack, director of the Petroleum Extension Service at the University of Texas. As a socially responsible company, BP should have had a backup plan to deal with such incidents which they did not have. Secondly, the then CEO should have been more mindful and aware of what was going on around him and how the incident impacted the 11 dead employees and their families, the businesses those were dependent on the Gulf of Mexico and of course the ecology and environment. Instead of being such insensitive and self-centered,
BP did not do a good job of stopping the spill or after the spill happened. And the least the BP management could have done was to respond in a more empathetic and sensitive way. The Then CEO Tony Hayward was understandably the most hated man in America (Sherwell, 2015). BP should have come up with a more transparent response. Accepting and owning the mistakes from their part and then promising to fix all the problems. BP went in defensive mode instead, trying to prove nothing really changed due to the oil spill and as if it was not a big deal at all, I think that made the situation worse.
I was aware of the crisis but unfortunately, I did not follow it closely. Moreover, I was in India and too busy with my work, so following this story was not on my priority list. But, over the years I have seen articles on how the oil spill has damaged the environment and animals.
I cannot say if the company did enough to respond to the public, but reading about what their responses were, I think they directed their resources to defend themselves instead of owning and accepting their mistake and that made the public more suspicious. BP tried to present different facts to defend themselves in court, but public perception works in a different way. They did not accept their mistake or did not assure to fix anything, so in my opinion, they did not do enough or did not do the right thing.
References:
Kamran ( December 2012). 5 Major Changes To The Gulf Coast Wildlife After BP Oil Spills. Retrieved from https://envirocivil.com/environment/5-major-changes-to-the-gulf-coast-wildlife-after-bp-oil-spills/
Sherwell, P ( April 2015). BP oil spill: Five years after 'worst environmental disaster' in US history, how bad was it really? Retrieved from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11546654/BP-oil-spill-Five-years-after-worst-environmental-disaster-in-US-history-how-bad-was-it-really.html
Hoffman C (Sept 2010). Special Report: Why the BP Oil Rig Blowout Happened. Retrieved from https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a6065/how-the-bp-oil-rig-blowout-happened/
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