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BP 'small people' comment causes anger along Gulf
By HOLBROOK MOHR, Associated Press WriterWed Jun 16, 6:09 pm ET

VENICE, La. – The "small people" of the Gulf Coast have a humongous message
for oil giant BP: They're tired of the company's big-time executives making
insensitive comments.

On Wednesday, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told reporters in Washington:
"I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or
don't care, but that is not the case with BP. We care about the small
people."

Orange Beach, Ala., Mayor Tony Kennon laughed when he heard Svanberg's
remark.

"They can call me small, miniature, they can call me anything they want.
Just write the check and send it to us," he said.

But Justin Taffinder of New Orleans was not amused.

"We're not small people. We're human beings. They're no greater than us. We
don't bow down to them. We don't pray to them," Taffinder said.

Svanberg is Swedish, and his comments — in English — may have been an
unintentional slight. He uttered the remark to reporters following a joint
press conference with President Barack Obama — who had spoke of the small
business owners, the fishermen and the shrimpers affected by the spill.

But coastal residents already were angry over the oil spill disaster and at
BP CEO Tony Hayward's earlier comments that he "wants his life back."

Asked about the chairman's remark, BP spokesman Toby Odone told The
Associated Press in an e-mail that "it is clear that what he means is that
he cares about local businesses and local people. This was a slip in
translation."

Lyn Ridge, 47, ferried reporters to see oil clean up operations Wednesday in
a bay at Plaquemines Parish. He just shook his head when told about the
"small people" comment.

Ridge describes himself as "commercial contractor that can't find work and
driving boat trying to make a living." To make matters worse, Ridge figures
his house on the water in Myrtle Grove has lost half it's value due to the
oil spill.

"They can say he didn't mean it that way, but that's how they think of us,"
Ridge said. "They can't keep their foot out of their mouth," he added
referring to another BP executive's desire to have his life back.

In Alabama, Terry Hanners, who owns a small construction company in Gulf
Shores, said the chairman's remark revealed something about BP's frame of
mind.

"These BP people I've met are good folks. I've got a good rapport with
them," said Hanners, 74. "But BP does not care about us. They are so far
above us. We are the nickel-and-dime folks of this world."

Kennon said he is relieved that BP agreed to put $20 billion in an escrow
fund, and joked, "They better be lucky I called off the invasion of 10,000
rednecks with their rifles headed toward England anyway."

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Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners
(202) 333-1880
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.co