98 Ton Cement Dome Failure

Unfortunately it sounds like BP's 98 Ton Cement Dome that was intended to act as a funnel to control the main oil spill in the Gulf has failed, so they are going to have to try something new to stop the leak.

The good news is that we could put the 98 Ton Dome to work right here in South Seattle! BP could drop that very same dome on top of their AMPM store at 5620 MLK to control the amount of trash that spews out onto the streets from their property! Unlike the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico I'm almost 100% sure that the the dome would be effective here!

BP's trail of Shame Shame Shame

How often do I quote a Republican in an environmental blog? According to a great article in today's Seattle Times "Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, told BP executives during a heated September 2006 hearing. "I'm even more concerned about BP's corporate culture of seeming indifference to safety and environmental issues. And this comes from a company that prides itself in their ads on protecting the environment. Shame. Shame. Shame."

There are too many great anti-BP articles out there to even read right now, let alone re-post for you. But are you listening South Seattle? What BP is doing in the gulf coast they have been dumping directly on us in a much smaller way for years.

BP Oil Spill 5x Worse Than They Thought

It sounds like the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is 5x worse than they originally thought and that as much as 5000 barrels a day are headed for sensitive environmental areas. They are attempting to drill 'relief wells' but this will take as much as 90 days to slow the flow.

Remember folks, act locally! BP owns the AMPM gas station at 5600 MLK in Columbia City. They have one of the worst environmental records in history and they have a long history of not picking up their trash right here in our neighborhood. Please do not support this store or this company.

email saga continues June 15, 2009

Dear BP,

I wrote you this email a few weeks ago and have still not heard back
from you. Attached you will find a photo showing trash at one of your
stores that has not been picked up in months despite my repeated
requests for you to pick up your lot AND if you will look closely you
will notice that there is a whole new pile of trash on top of the old
pile of trash. The reason that there is a new pile of trash on top of
the old pile of trash is that when you leave trash on your property then
people assume that you don't care. It's called the broken windows
theory and you can read more about it here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixing_Broken_Windows

It would be really great if your company started picking up the trash
that is lying all over your property. I really don't have very high
expectations of your company and your property. It would just be nice
if you kept this store to the same standards as the rest of your stores
and just did the simple neighborly thing by picking up your trash.
tr
thanks,

E-Mail Exchange with BP

photo of large pile of trash piled behind behind Columbia City AMPM just the other day!

3/12/09 (letter from me to BP)

Dear BP,

I have a problem with an Arco AM/PM gas station in my neighborhood and I only recently discovered that BP is actually the parent company for Arco so I thought that I would bring this matter to your attention directly. My problem is trash, lots and lots of trash being dumped and left on the Arco property in my neighborhood and Arco not taking the time to pick it up. This has become such a problem that I actually keep a blog about it, which you can visit here.

http://ampmsucks.blogspot.com/

I have never gotten anywhere by writing anyone in your company with any of my concerns, and I don't expect this notice to get any results either, but I thought that I should continue to try as I realized I have been tracking the problems at this particular station for almost 4 years now, but you are welcome to read all about that in my blog.

Sincerely yours,

4/08/09

(almost a month later, trash still has not been picked up at the site.)

Dear BP Customer Service,

It has been several weeks since I sent you this email detailing trash problems at your store and I have not heard back from you. I'm just curious if any headway has been made on this issue.

04/09 (A letter from BP!!!)

Thank you for taking the time to send us an email recently. We are always pleased to hear from our valued customers. We have located this station and we apologize for the problem that you encountered at the BP/Arco station in Seattle, WA. However this is an Independently Owned Station and we have forwarded your concerns to Upper Management over the station for proper handling and also requested for a follow up call to you regarding this matter. Please allow 3-5 business days for a follow up call from Upper Management not including weekends. Once again thank you for your recent email, and we hope we have been of service to you. Thank you for your business.

(they never called, trash still on site)

4/30/09 (from me to BP, nearly a month and a half after trash reported)

Thanks for your email on April 9th letting me know that someone from Upper Management will be contacting me in 3-5 business days to discuss this situation. It is now April 30th and I still have not heard from anyone. Are you sure that somebody is going to contact me?
thank you,

5/4/09 (almost 2 months since trash reported)

FROM BP TO ME

We apologize if you have not been contacted. We have notified the BP Field Representative for this station and advised that this is your 3^nd request for a follow-up. They will request that the independent owner follow-up with you directly at their earliest convenience.

We appreciate your patience with this matter and apologize for the delayed response.

(I was never contacted by BP management or an independent owner)

5/27/09

FROM ME to BP(nearly two months since trash reported, some clean up has happened but trash pictured above still on site)

Thank you so much for your email. I just went by the store and I was impressed to see that the noxious weeds and 'lawn' had been mowed. I was amazed to see that most of the trash had actually been picked up except for a large pile of concrete and some barbed wire and some traffic cones it was looking pretty good. I was even more impressed that they threw their trash in the dumpster this time rather than dumping it on the neighboring property.

I'm curious if this was a one time clean up or if your company is going to start holding the franchise owner to the same standards as your other stores?

thank you,

P.S. you misspelled 'Acknowledgement' in the subject line of this email, if that is being auto-generated you might want to make sure and fix that.

June 9, 2009

Some trash still on site several months after being reported to BP they still have not contacted me saying when this will be taken care of or if there is going to be any regular maintenance on this site. BP is trying to spin this as being the responsibility of the franchise owner HOWEVER BP is actually the owner of the property and it is therefor ultimatley their responsibility.

still life with stacked tires

Although Arco AM/PM gas station is still not picking up their trash. At least someone in the neighborhood has started stacking their trash tires to make it look more artsy. Way to go Arco!