Bush Admin Ordered Oil Pipeline Power Restored Ahead of Hospitals and Water Systems – Number of Victims who Died Because of this Not Known

Exempt from this article.

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina roared through South Mississippi knocking out electricity and communication systems, the White House ordered power restored to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.

That order - to restart two power substations in Collins that serve Colonial Pipeline Co. - delayed efforts by at least 24 hours to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in the Pine Belt.

At the time, gasoline was in short supply across the country because of Katrina. Prices increased dramatically and lines formed at pumps across the South.

"I considered it a presidential directive to get those pipelines operating," said Jim Compton, general manager of the South Mississippi Electric Power Association - which distributes power that rural electric cooperatives sell to consumers and businesses.

"I reluctantly agreed to pull half our transmission line crews off other projects and made getting the transmission lines to the Collins substations a priority," Compton said. "Our people were told to work until it was done.

Dan Jordan, manager of Southern Pines Electric Power Association, said Vice President Dick Cheney's office called and left voice mails twice shortly after the storm struck, saying the Collins substations needed power restored immediately.

The article explains how the White House’s request from Dick Cheney's office to divert power to the Oil Pipeline caused hospitals to be without power for 24 hours. Facilities attempting to provide drinkable water to victims of Hurricane Katrina were also deprived of power for 24 hours by this decision. It is unknown how many people died because of this.

A fellow blogger had this to say, "When I worked in the healthcare industry, the standard of delivery was considered to be what you would do if it was your mother in the hospital. You would move heaven and earth to get your job done because everyone in a hospital is somone's loved one. But not the Bush Bastards! They love OIL! And it's oil that they protect first - to hell with the people. The first thing they covered in Iraq were the oil wells and now were finding out during Katrina they protected the flow of oil first. And with no delay!" The American People deserve to know where the Bush Administration's priorities lie. It's not with the American People! We mean NOTHING to them!