Editor’s note: Rev. L. Charles Stovall, a member of People For’s African American Ministers in Action, contributed this post. Rev. Stovall is a pastor at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas.
I met a man recently at a bus stop on my way to the office. Our conversation eventually came to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. He said that he once owned a scuba diving company in the Gulf and his clients were usually associated with oil companies that siphoned oil from the Gulf of Mexico.
One day while diving, they discovered an accumulation of oil on the Gulf floor. He said that the oil had formed a pool about six feet deep on the bottom. When reported to the oil company that had hired his service, he was told that if anything was reported to anyone else, his company would either be delayed in getting paid, or might not be paid at all. It was not reported.
Because of that encounter he is skeptical about what is currently happening and the “truth” being told about the oil disaster. He said the oil companies will lie, mislead, and try their best to wash their hands of responsibility. He also said that the oil on top of the water is only a fraction of the oil that we should be concerned about. According him, some of the oil will float to the surface, but much of the oil will remain underwater.