Gulf Oil Spill: Cleanup Workers Report Illness

Los Angeles Times:

Some fishermen who have been hired by BP to clean up the gulf oil spill say they have become ill after working long hours near waters fouled with oil and dispersant, prompting a Louisiana lawmaker to call on the federal government to open mobile clinics in rural areas to treat them.

The fishermen report severe headaches, dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing. Concerned by the reports, Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking the agency's help providing medical treatment, especially in Plaquemines Parish, a southern region where many fishermen live.

Read the whole story: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[phalanx]

03:44 PM on 05/28/2010

Here's an interesting interview with Merle Savage, who was the general foreman in charge of the Exxon-Valdez spill cleanup. She outlines how Exxon did not inform cleanup volunteers about the risks they faced handling hazardous material, and how BP is repeating the same deadly mistake:

http://www.themarknews.com/articles/1593-the-risks-of-cleaning-up-after-bp

[thepoliticalcat]

04:20 PM on 05/26/2010

NOLA, NOLA, NOLA, you have suffered so much. A regal lady in tattered deshabille.

[reallymaddog]

01:20 PM on 05/26/2010

Sebelius did such a good job with the flu vaccine I'm sure these fisherman have nothing to worry about.

[ImHanley]

09:42 AM on 05/26/2010

After this, can we just bankrupt BP and it's heirs and be done with it?

[ImHanley]

09:38 AM on 05/26/2010

Gotta love that capitalism and greed. Destroy the planet to make a buck!

[thepoliticalcat]

04:20 PM on 05/26/2010

And all the living things on it.

[truth2power99]

09:31 AM on 05/26/2010

First it was the 9/11 first responders and now this. You want a better solution to cleaning all that oil from the sea? Try using HAY. No Chemicals and no one will get sick, guaranteed!!! Watch and see....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5SxX2EntEo

[lemmyk73]

09:26 AM on 05/26/2010

Heckuva job 'Bamie.

[ImHanley]

09:39 AM on 05/26/2010

Barnie? Is he one of the VPs at British Petroleum?

[thepoliticalcat]

04:21 PM on 05/26/2010

I'd be a little ashamed of using that line, if I were you. Five years isn't that long ago.

[shrinktalkingheads]

09:24 AM on 05/26/2010

"BP spokesman Graham McEwen said Tuesday he was unaware of any health complaints among cleanup workers, noting that the company had taken hundreds of samples of so-called volatile organic carbons, such as benzene, and all the levels were well within federal safety standards."

This, of course, means you should "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

What reason could BP possibly have for lying?

[lostonbridgetofuture]

10:47 AM on 05/26/2010

These are the same types of things that the clean-up workers were told at the WTC. And how many of those people have come down with or died from various lung illnesses?

Corporations can make a mess and destroy the planet, and then they can send in a mass of people desparate for jobs, and if those people suffer, who cares? BP is still wealthy and healthy, right?


More of the same. Screw the working people while the rich get richer.

[windup]

09:24 AM on 05/26/2010

This is going to be like the workers who went down to the World Trade Center disaster to clean up. It is utter negligence on the part of BP to be sending them out on the water with 'containment booms' (that are useless), without providing them with proper safety equipment. I would like to see the CEO of BP going out doing that. They are paying the fishermen to do this useless and dangerous work just to keep them quieter. But this is going to be a serious health problem for them. Wonder if this will come under 'legitimate' claims that BP will pay for.

[Bushdepression]

09:23 AM on 05/26/2010

And here's a good Daily Kos piece about how the leaking methane is worse than the oil.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/5/16/866928/-UPDATE:-Gas-Leak-3000-Times-Worse-Than-OilUpdated-Math
"3000 times worse" is deceptive. There are 3000 cubic feet of gas for every barrel of oil, but the actual damage might be only 100 times worse. The worst part is that the methane is depleting the oxygen in the water.
Here's a post I did last summer on the possible coming anoxic extinction: http://ranprieur.com/archives/025.html#anoxia
If the ocean has no oxygen, it fills up with anaerobic microbes, which produce hydrogen sulfide gas, which bubbles up and poisons life on land. And check it out: air tests from the Louisiana coast http://www.southernstudies.org/2010/05/air-tests-from-the-louisiana-coast-reveal-human-health-threats-from-the-oil-disaster.html
reveal that "hydrogen sulfide has been detected at concentrations more than 100 times greater than the level known to cause physical reactions in people."

A couple weeks ago Dmitry Orlov explained why the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an American Chernobyl.
http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2010/05/american-chernobyl.html

[rbchilds]

09:21 AM on 05/26/2010

Where the heck is OSHA? OSHA has the power to levy fines on companies that do not comply with safety regulations, do it now.

[thepoliticalcat]

04:23 PM on 05/26/2010

Thanks to legislation passed after the Exxon Valdez tragedy, the oil company is responsible for cleaning up the entire spill, and government may not interfere.

[rbchilds]

06:29 PM on 05/26/2010

The oil companies are responsible for cleaning up the spill, they also have a duty to protect their workers whether they are contract labor or direct hire labor. OSHA has control over safety compliance issues and no company can circumvent those statutes.

[MeinNH]

09:20 AM on 05/26/2010

Why are we even surprised?

[prdamericanmom]

09:14 AM on 05/26/2010

It was only a matter of time. Send the execs out there with the same protective gear that these poor people have (oh wait, that would be NONE). This is their mess to clean up anyhow. And oh, maybe they need to make another donation to help the people of the Gulf Coast. This time, though, make it a lot bigger than *cue Dr. Evil's voice* "One MILLION Dollars".... It's the very least you can do for wrecking the livelihoods and legacies of so many.

[LeaderofMen]

09:09 AM on 05/26/2010

Oh how quickly they forget.

9/11. 9/11. 9/11. Now... try to recall what happened to the cleanup workers after 9 f*ck1ng 11.

[Bushdepression]

09:24 AM on 05/26/2010

Yeah, but the payoff!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/29/ex-pentagon-official-perl_n_115547.html

The Wall Street Journal reports that neoconservative war architect Richard Perle is getting back into Iraq:
Influential former Pentagon official Richard Perle has been exploring going into the oil business in Iraq and Kazakhstan, according to people with knowledge of the matter and documents outlining possible deals.

Mr. Perle, one of a group of security experts who began pushing the case for toppling Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein about a decade ago, has been discussing a possible deal with officials of northern Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, including its Washington envoy, according to these people and the documents.

[Countess]

09:06 AM on 05/26/2010

Companies bribe politicians who appoint industry friendly corrupt regulators who let corporations do their own inspections and reporting and when disaster happens government is totally dependent on the corporation looking on as an impotent observer as the gulf coast is destroyed. This is the cost of corruption.

[reallymaddog]

01:34 PM on 05/26/2010

Good observation - fanned. The real problem with (Wall St.) the corporations is that the federal government that is supposed to regulate them and protect us is in bed with them. Freddie and Fannie who were largely responsible for the housing bubble have once again been given a pass by the politicians who are receiving campaign cash and cushy jobs for the politicians ( Barney Frank for example) friends. The SEC let Maddoff steal investors blind, the MMS and BP have had an intimate relationship. ...and on and on.
I wish I had a solution. It may be to elect representstives for a single term only; incompetence is a lot better option than wholesale corruption.