Despite repeated promises to improve transparency, BP, the United States government, and their contractors are still inhibiting the media’s ability to cover the largest oil spill in the country’s history, which began April 20 with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

The first reports of journalists being denied access to beaches and flights over the offshore spill area surfaced in late May, drawing the ire of many news outlets and sparking some coverage of the obstructions. In response, Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard, who is overseeing the federal response to the oil spill, issued a memo (pdf) ordering greater transparency:

This correspondence serves as a written reminder to all parties involved, in any matter whatsoever, and at any level of the response organization, that media shall, at all times, be afforded access to response operations and shall only be asked to leave an area when their presence is in violation of an existing law or regulation, clearly violates the written site safety plan for the area or interferes with effective operations.

BP’s Chief Operating Officer, Doug Suttles, followed up on June 9 with a letter (pdf) to response personnel, stating that “BP fully supports and defends all individuals’ rights to share their personal thoughts and experiences with journalists if they so choose.” At the same time, however, Suttles argued that, “Recent media reports have suggested that individuals involved in the clean up operation have been prohibited from speaking to the media, and this is simply not true.”

Whether he is simply ignorant or willfully prevaricating (as BP has been known to do throughout this ordeal), Suttles was dead wrong, and a lack of transparency continues to be one of many pockmarks marring industry and government’s response to the oil spill. On Wednesday evening, the Associated Press produced a terrific article that highlighted ongoing access problems and catalogued half a dozen instances of media obstruction since the beginning of June.

One of those instances involved WDSU, a New Orleans television station, which reported last Friday that:

Private security guards patrolling an oil-stained portion of Grand Isle attempted repeatedly to prevent a WDSU news crew from walking on a public beach and speaking with cleanup workers — a confrontation that followed a BP corporate promise not to interfere in such a manner.

It was the second day in a row WDSU News anchor Scott Walker was approached by hired security in the area.

On Monday, USA Today published an editorial complaining that:

BP maintains these are anomalies. But every such attempt deepens the impression that BP, having caused the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, is trying to manipulate what the public sees about it….

Just as outrageous have been the government’s controlling actions.

According to the Associated Press article, AP’s senior managing editor, Michael Oreskes, wrote to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday, “demanding that President Barack Obama’s administration improve media access.” The article also noted that:

AP first contacted Obama on June 5, outlining its concerns in a letter from President and CEO Tom Curley. Gibbs followed up with a call to AP editors and a written response. If journalists have concerns, Gibbs said, they can call to report their experiences with a joint information center run by the federal government and BP in Houma, La.

Oreskes called the number from his office in New York on Tuesday and left a message, but has not received a response. Also on Tuesday, however, the Unified Area Command overseeing the response efforts announced that it was moving its offices from Robert, Louisiana to New Orleans in order to “facilitate continued 24-hour activities and decision making … [and] move response command staff closer to operational locations along the coast.” At the same time, the Unified Command also announced two new phone numbers for reporters to contact the Joint Information Center: (713) 323-1670 and (713) 323-1671.

Curtis Brainard collaborated on this article. Eliott and Griffin are the directors of the Science Media Centres in Australia and New Zealand, respectively. Kelland is Reuters health and science correspondent for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.