EL PASO — After thousands of barrels of oil began gushing from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig into the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, the company scrambled to contain and explain one of the biggest oil disasters in history.
Henry De La Garza, a 1971 University of Texas at El Paso, graduate, was called on to represent BP.
De La Garza, 63, returned to his alma mater on May 9, to share his experience with business and communication students. He recounted the steps taken.
Henry De La Garza, a 1971 University of Texas at El Paso, graduate. (Veronica Enriquez/Borderzine.com)
His career not just in crisis communication, but as a news reporter, producer, and press secretary, gave De La Garza the skills needed to take on the public relations job during this damaging episode for BP.
“My first job was to organize a briefing for over 1,000 members of the current tourism industry in Gulf Shores (Alabama), ” De La Garza said. “We assembled all the executives: geologists, engineers, we had a doctor, and someone to talk about the weather.”
De La Garza knew that after a big crisis like this one, the media was bound to ask questions. The first day in the process of restoration he dealt with the public but was not authorized to talk to the press media.
“We did great with the audience but we blew it with the press,” De La Garza said.
Later that day he received a call that would allow him to not just communicate with those affected by the oil spill, but also openly with the press in that area.
“You are now authorized to speak for BP. I don’t want you to be shy. I want you to share our message,” said De La Garza reiterating what BP told him. “You talk to anybody whether it’s reporters or anybody, you talk to them, you tell them what we’re doing in response.”
De La Garza, 61 years old at the time, said he had to work on multiple jobs at once. He dealt with community and media relations all combined into one, managing 18 hour shifts for 125 days.
“My job was to talk about where the oil was yesterday, what did we do with it, how much did we get, where do you think it’s going to be today,” said De La Garza. “My job was to talk about response, that is what the people on the ground and the media wants to know.”
His qualifications in the communication field, and his recent efforts with oil spills in San Francisco and Port Arthur, made him the only expert in handling public and media relations for the BP oil spill.
“There were not enough professional PIO’s (Public Information Officer’s) I was the only professional in Alabama. The only other professional was an engineer from Alaska,” De La Garza said. “I was the long term institutional member, I had to stay there, I was the deputy commander.”
Prior to the Deepwater Horizon crisis, his professional career was continually evolving so he was able to implement everything he had learned in his career.
“The Deepwater Horizon was 46 years of experiences in government, politics, business, corporate, media, you name it,” he said. “The Deepwater Horizon was the only project in my lifetime that drew upon everything I’d ever learned. There was nothing that was not touched.”
De La Garza knows the value of effective communication with “positive, proactive, and prepared,” approaches. He encouraged students to polish their communication skills and always strive to evolve in their professional careers.
“Communication now has never been more important, now everyday there’s a crisis if it’s not Toyota if it’s not BP, then it’s somebody else. Companies are having a real problem communicating with crisis,” he told the students.
Today, De La Garza continues to deal with crisis management through his public relations firm in Houston, Texas. Specializing in crisis communications, public affairs, media relations, community relations and Latin American marketing for 27 years.
