Oil spill hysteria fault of the media

I just returned from a rotation at the Joint Incident Command Center for fighting the spill in the Gulf. I and many other BP employees and retirees from this area, as well as thousands of U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, National Guard and people from government agencies such as NOAA, Fish and Wildlife Service, EMA and others are serving down there at several locations, working 12- to 16-hour days to fight the spill.

I can say that I speak for most of the people on the response that the news agencies (broadcast and print) have generally got the stories wrong. Yes, the spill is bad and is not a good thing. But most of the real harm so far, especially to the economy of the Gulf region, has been perpetrated by the gloom and doom sensationalistic news coverage, and of course the politics of the spill.

In addition, the moratorium on deep water drilling, a pure political move in my opinion, is devastating 40 percent of the Gulf economy and may cause more environmental damage later.

The facts are that most of the oil has not and will not reach shore. Where it has touched the coast, shoreline cleanup and assessment teams have responded immediately. In most cases the response has been to pick up tar balls that may or may not have come from this spill. Some marsh areas have been affected, but overall the affected areas have been limited.

The news has done a disservice to the people working the spill response and to the local residents who depend on tourism. On occasion I have visited the beautiful beaches of this area and found them still beautiful. There are many good stories associated with this effort, but the news has covered none of them.

Lyle G Bruce

Winfield