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Prioritizing Community Assets
The three most relevant assets that should be given the highest priority in the response to, recovery from, and planning for managing the BP oil spill include the following: National Guard, insurance agencies/adjustors, and communications/media. Prioritizing community assets in the BP oil spill can be summarized as:
National Guard
In response to the oil leak in the year 2010, the Louisiana National Guard was mobilized by the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance in the efforts of helping local communities in the Gulf of Mexico region in the cleanup and removal of oil. The Louisiana National Guard was also helpful in protecting critical habitats in the area from contamination (National Guard, 2015). Soldiers from the National Guard from three other states in the Gulf region were also deployed to protect habitats and beaches from the oil spill.
Given that BP was responsible for this occurrence, it was accountable by the federal government for all the costs of the deployment. In essence, members of the National Guard participated in the response effort following the oil spill catastrophe at the Gulf of Mexico. These National Guard members served as cleanup workers. On the whole, in excess of 1,650 members of the National Guard supported Operation Deepwater Horizon in 4 states located in the Gulf of Mexico region: Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida (National Guard, 2015).
Prioritizing Community Assets
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Insurance agencies/adjustors
Insurance agencies and adjustors were very important in recovering from the oil spill disaster and to rebuild. The oil spill, which took place close to major population centres, threatened to damage valuable properties on the beachfront, to harm significant tourism and fishing industries, and to hamper transit through the shipping channels (Hartwig, 2010). There is 1st party insurance coverage which was available to business organizations that suffered business interruption losses or property damage as a result of the BP oil spill.
A lot of companies in the region owned 1st party property insurance policies that covered losses for physical damage, in addition to monetary losses as a result of business interruption. Furthermore, there was a 3rd party coverage available to business organizations identified as defendants in court cases that relate to the BP oil spill (Epstein & Keyes, 2010). As for business organizations that faced possible liability for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, more than 110 court cases have been filed by plaintiffs who were allegedly injured by this oil leak.
Prioritizing Community Assets
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Communications/media
The significance of the role played by the media and communication systems following the massive oil spill in the year 2010 cannot be overestimated. Following the BP oil spill, the disaster was trending on Twitter and the mainstream news on radio and in broadcast and cable television was in twenty-four hour reporting mode. The internet was also crucial in the communications during this disaster (Pew Research Centre, 2010).
It is worth mentioning that as photos of leaking oil in the Deepwater Horizon and dead animals and birds surfaced, outrage and interest from members of the public increased, and so did political pressures on the United States President’s administration to punish the oil and gas multinational corporation BP. As a result, this company had a vested interest in restricting media access to the oil spill.
On the whole, there were many horrific and awful images that members of the public saw and this made the public very angry at BP as regarsd the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Images were shown by various media outlets of oiled animals, dying dolphins and dead animals. These images circulated. The public depended on news organizations for information pertaining to the oil leak. The interest of members of the public went hand-in-hand with the immense amount of news coverage of this oil leak (Meyer, 2014). Information was also communicated to the public by the federal government.
References
Epstein, H. B., & Keyes, T. A. (2010). BP oil spill: An insurance perspective. New York Law Journal, 244(34): 1-2.
Hartwig, R. P. (2010). The Deepwater Horizon Disaster: Insurance market impacts. New York Law Journal, 241(25): 65-68.
Meyer, J. (2014). Media coverage creates oil spill amnesia. Grist Magazine, 23(5): 14-17
National Guard. (2015). National Guard Oil Spill Response. Retrieved from http://www.nationalguard.mil/Features/2010/OilSpillResponse.aspx
Pew Research Centre. (2010). 100 days of gushing oil: Media analysis and quiz. Washington, DC: PRW
Prioritizing Community Assets
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