BP Ignoring Health Concerns in the Gulf

One of the first things BP did after oil started gushing into the Gulf was to spray more than 1.1 million gallons of a dispersant with the optimistic name "Corexit" onto the oil. Then BP hired Louisiana fishermen and others to help with cleanup and containment operations. About two weeks later, over seventy workers fell sick, complaining of irritated throats, coughing, shortness of breath and nausea. Seven workers were hospitalized on May 26. Workers were engaged in a variety of different tasks in different places when they got sick: breaking up oil sheen, doing offshore work, burning oil and deploying boom. BP officials speculated that their illnesses were due to food poisoning or other, unrelated reasons, but others pointed out how unlikely these other causes were, since the sick workers were assigned to different locations.

Secret Sauce

Nalco, the company that makes Corexit, declined to make public the ingredients they use in Corexit, to protect the proprietary trade secret composition of the product, but they did turn over a list of ingredients to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which sat on the information, prompting a flood of complaints over several weeks from members of Congress, public health advocates and doctors who had no idea how to treat people exposed to the secret chemical concoction. On June 9, EPA quietly released a full list of the ingredients in Corexit products on their Web site. Two variants of the product were used on the Gulf oil spill: Corexit 9527, used early on in the Gulf, contains 2-butoxyethanol, which caused persistent health problems among people who worked on cleaning up the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Another ingredient, propylene glycol, is a common solvent and lubricant. The other iteration of the product, Corexit 9500, also contains propylene glycol, as well as light petroleum distillates and dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate, a detergent and common ingredient in laxatives and stool softeners. The special handling instructions for Corexit 9500 say workers need to don long-sleeved shirts, chemical resistant gloves and chemical protective goggles when working with the chemical. Any contact with skin needs to be treated immediately with flushing and washing with soap.

Liability Dodge?

The illnesses they have experienced have led workers to ask for better equipment to use for cleanup, including respirators, but BP says air quality monitoring doesn't show a need for breathing equipment, according to OSHA standards. Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-New York) says BP is refusing to acknowledge any liability for health problems, and that the only thing chemical dispersants have accomplished is to make some of the oil less visible on the ocean's surface by driving it into underwater plumes, which BP denies exist. He likened the spraying of Corexit on the ocean to the U.S.'s spraying of Agent Orange in Vietnam, a defoliant that by some accounts resulted in as many as 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects. Nadler expressed concern that the situation with BP and Corexit reminds him of the World Trade Center where the government said the air was safe for workers and told them there was no need for concern and no need for respirators, and thousands fell ill with chronic health problems.

History May Be Repeating Itself

"I cannot believe we are repeating the same mistake again, the same mistake that we made in the weeks after 9-11 when the United States government caused thousands of people to get sick by denying that the air was toxic," Nadler said before Congress June 9. He insisted we are doing the same thing again, only BP is doing it this time, employing thousands of workers to labor in what amounts to unsafe conditions. He predicted BP will try to deny liability for worker's illnesses, and predicted that these kinds of health problems will spread to all the countries bordering the gulf, and the problem will eventually become an international crisis.

Comments

The effect of our greed is having world wide repercussions, and it's obvious that the 'people in charge' only care about covering their own butts. It's clear that they knew the dangers to clean-up workers - why else would they have tried to slide in the waiver capping their responsibility for any damages suffered by cleanup workers?

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This is rare! BP should not ignore this issue.. Health should be their priority more than anything else.. We are all involve in this serious matter.. They should make some actions to fix this problem before its too late......

This story was very interesting. It's hard to believe that after everything that has happened BP is still trying to not take blame for this terrible situation. Now they want to blame it on some other unknown reason for these workers sicknesses. Who really knows what can be found in this chemical that is supposed to help clean up the oil???

It is unfortunate but I don't think that BP will help any of the workers that became sick from Corexit. To do this would be an admission of guilt and we know they will never admit fault. It sickens me to think that money is so much more important than a persons well being.

It's very sad on how BP seems not to care about the huge oil spill that they've produced. It also amazes me that anytime there is a huge disaster in a third world country, we're donating money and send volunteers to help out. But anytime there's a disaster in the USA it tends to be not too big of a deal.

This is such a disastrous situation. All the people and businesses that are losing money daily, as if the economy isn't bad enough already. All the animals that have died and or injured due to the toxins, unbelieveable. You would think they could figure out there has to be a connection between the animals condition and the humans condition. I cannot believe how long this has been going on. This is absolutely ridiculous. I just cannot express my concerns enough for our futures. My prayers are with everyone affected in this situation.

Why are we not rushing to the aid of the communities along the Gulf that are suffering financial ramifications from the oil spill? We jump at the chance to show our support to Haiti, yet the worst US oil spill disaster in history is not drawing enough support from the company that caused the spill, our government, or the public at large. What a crying shame.

Just like the rest of you guys, I'm shocked and a bit disgusted by this. My question is, is there any possible way in which we can affect BP negatively and make them suffer? I realize it may seem a bit pathetic considering that there are not very many of us, but you have to start somewhere.

Hi, Don't you wonder how they come up with such simple explanations for such huge damages they have caused. Food Poisoning, nothing serious!!!

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