Eight years after BP oil spill, sick cleanup workers seek justice

Latest

Rally in front of the Federal Court in New Orleans on April 20 about workers still suffering from chemical poisoning as a result of the clean up effort of the BP oil spill eight years ago. They are demanding their day in court.
PHOTO/JULIE DERMANSKY

 
Editor’s note: The following information was excerpted from desmogblog.com/user/julie-dermansky.
NEW ORLEANS, LA — On the eighth anniversary of the BP oil spill, Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, who founded a coalition of Louisiana environmental groups, stood in front of the New Orleans Federal Court House and called “bullshit” on the court’s handling of claims made by thousands of workers BP hired to clean up the spill that polluted the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The workers have claimed exposure to oil and the dispersant has made them sick and still have not had their day in court.
One woman spoke on behalf of her dead husband who also worked the oil spill cleanup response. She described him as a healthy 45-year-old before the spill, who died two and a half years later after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. She has filed a wrongful death suit.
Recent scientific studies offered mounting evidence of the potential harm resulting from the oil dispersants Corexit 9500 and Corexit 952, applied to break oil into smaller droplets during cleanup efforts. A study from the Uniformed Services University found that almost 2,000 exposed members of the U.S. Coast Guard suffered “lung irritation, skin rash, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea,” more often than those who avoided dispersants or only had contact with oil.
According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune: “Nearly one million gallons were dropped by air, and another 770,000 gallons were injected into the damaged wellhead about a mile under the water’s surface. It was the first time that dispersants had been used on a large scale and in proximity to people.”
Workers and their supporters called for federal judge Carl Barbier to reverse his decision to delay hearing remaining cases of cleanup workers indefinitely. They gathered at the rally before delivering a petition with 25,000 signatures seeking justice for the cleanup workers.
Meanwhile the federal government, with deep ties to the energy industry, is moving to open up almost all of the nation’s coastlines to offshore oil and gas drilling, and safety regulations put in place after the BP disaster are being rolled back.
“Our democracy has been hijacked by the oil and gas industry,” says Honoré, who founded a coalition of Louisiana-based environmental groups. He placed blame on the Obama administration for letting BP off the hook so easily in the wake of the spill and faulted the Trump administration for its reckless proposals related to offshore drilling.

PT Logo collage
+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

Pushing People into a Really Bad System Will End Really Badly

President Trump's executive order fuses drug use and homelessness, ignoring that homelessness can cause or exacerbate substance use because people use drugs to cope with pain. Forced institutional settings rather than housing will not help the ill or unhoused.

Chicago Resistance Speaks: ‘Until All Are Free, None Are Free’

An uprising is growing as the government tries to impose a dictatorship. Chicago resistance leaders recently offered their thoughts in public remarks made at demonstrations and press conferences.

Los Angeles Continues to Rebuild and Resist

Angelinos, suffering from the profit over people economy, continue to rebuild after the fires and to protest immigration raids, while also experiencing joy in such difficult times.

Chicago Teachers Union Says: Trump, Stay Out of Our City

Chicago Teachers Union rejects any unlawful federal occupation of their city, while welcoming federal leadership that fully funds public education, restores SNAP, and expands Medicaid to healthcare for all.

Journalist Says Why ‘I Can No Longer Work With Reuters’

A photojournalist says why it is impossible for her to maintain a relationship with Reuters "given its role in justifying and enabling the systematic assassination of 245 journalists in Gaza."

More from the People's Tribune