Montana to split from oil spill command post
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer says state officials are leaving a command post set up to coordinate the response to an Exxon Mobil oil spill because the company has blocked public access to the site.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer says state officials are leaving a command post set up to coordinate the response to an Exxon Mobil oil spill because the company has blocked public access to the site.
Schweitzer told The Associated Press Thursday that state employees cannot legally be involved in a group that does not make itself transparent to the public under Montana open meetings law.
Exxon Mobil security workers have closely guarded access to the command post on the second floor of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Billings.
An alternate, state-run oil spill office has been opened at the Department of Transportation offices in Billings.
Schweitzer says the move will improve the flow of public information and not impede the state's ability to respond to the spill.
Tags: oil spill, news, updates, montana
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