BP Accused of Seeking to Limit Gulf Scientists' Publications. (July 23, 2010)

The Mobile (Alabama) Press-Register reports that BP is offering lucrative contracts to marine scientists from the Gulf Coast region to conduct research on the oil spill -- but with strings attached.  According to the report, at least one contract "prohibits the scientists from publishing their research, sharing it with other scientists or speaking about the data that they collect for at least the next three years."  Academic researchers under contract to BP would also be unable to accept support from federal agencies for work related to the spill.

[Note added July 29, 2010: Nature in a news article published today adds considerable detail. According to Amanda Mascarelli's report: "Scientists... are being trapped in the middle of a scramble by BP and the federal government to round up expert witnesses. The rush is being driven by the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA, a process defined by US federal law, in which those responsible for the spill, along with state and federal agencies, collect data to assess the environmental impact of the accident... Because the NRDA is part of a legal process, the scientists' results are unavailable for public review. 'When you collect data for the [NRDA] and agree to analyse them, you are essentially foreclosing on your ability to publish those data because they're going to be involved in court cases and they're subject to all kinds of sequestering and gag orders,' says Ian MacDonald, an oceanographer at Florida State University in Tallahassee."

However, while the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) normally follow NRDA procedures on 8 July, NOAA decided to waive parts of the agreements and allow scientists to publish their data. "Releasing NRDA 'Pre-assessment' science data is rarely done in the NRDA process, but it was decided in the interest of transparency, and because of the heightened interest in this particular spill, that this information would be made public," says spokesperson Rachel Wilhelm.

And according to Ms Mascarelli: "BP spokesman Mark Salt says that the company has contracts with 'more than a dozen' researchers with expertise in the region, and that it has asked them to 'treat information from BP counsel as confidential'. But, says Salt, 'BP does not take the position that environmental data are confidential. Moreover, BP does not restrict academics speaking about scientific data.' However, Salt admits that 'a few of the contracts between our local counsel and local university experts contain a three-year restriction on publication. It is BP Legal's intent to remove those restrictions, so that all university and college experts are hired on the same terms.'"]