On April 20, 2010, one of the largest marine oil spills in history took place in the Gulf of Mexico, called the Deepwater Horizon. Approximately 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana, the deepwater oil rig – owned and operated by offshore oil drilling company Transocean and leased by oil company BP – exploded and ultimately sank two days later. This was caused by a surge of natural gas that blasted through the concrete core that was installed to seal the oil well after extraction. This devastation caused 11 deaths and 17 injuries, along with killing about 82,000 birds and 26,000 marine mammals. Later, it became public knowledge that BP had a similar incident in 2008 – exposing the products this company produces are weak to withstand high pressure and resulting in catastrophic damages.
In 1990, after BP’s American Trader tanker ran over its anchor and punctured its hull, BP had a quick response. They sent out oil skimming vessels and deployed a crisis team within two hours of the spill, and had 36 BP specialists on the scene within 24 hours. By contrast, BP had a delayed response to the Deepwater Horizon spill. Two days after the fire and explosion, BP released a statement with cleanup plans but did not send out a crisis team or oil skimmers. Ultimately, President Barack Obama pledged that the U.S. Coast Guard would help contain the spill, and declared that BP was responsible for the cleanup.
BP’s response to this crisis was disproportionate to the damage that was done. It was met with mixed reviews because of the severity of the situation. BP did make an effort to provide regular updates however, their communication lacked transparency, credibility and empathy. The CEO at the time, Tony Hayward exacerbated the situation by making several statements downplaying the spill. This contributed to an erosion of public trust in Hayward and BP. While the initial response was not perfect, BP has attempted to make amends for the spill and with the public. One year after the spill, BP committed $1 billion to restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, each state affected was given funds for restoration efforts. These efforts are appreciated but the public opinion of BP will never be what it was after this disaster because of their poor response to the situation.
Tom Hayward and BP really missed the mark when it came to understanding how serious the disaster was right from the start. Hayward’s first reaction, where downplayed the impact on the environment and called the spill “relatively tiny,” demonstrated a lack of both empathy and compassion. The cherry on top was telling a cameraman to leave during a photo-op in Louisiana, showing just how discombobulated he was following the explosion. You could tell Hayward was letting his ego lead the way. Instead of showing compassion and taking responsibility, he chose to ignore the severity of the situation by not owning up to the disaster and how big it was, he only made things worse. We can all learn from how Hayward handled this crisis. It’s a reminder that in times of crisis, it’s best to set emotions aside and respond critically to demonstrate both responsibility and compassion. Hayward’s crisis communications strategy is one to avoid, whether you’re dealing with a catastrophic event or not.
Sources
https://darrp.noaa.gov/oil-spills/deepwater-horizon
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/29/bp-oil-spill-timeline-deepwater-horizon
https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-an-oil-spill-how-bp-gained-then-lost-our-trust-40307
https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill