Mystery illnesses plague Louisiana oil spill crews

[cory777]

Source: AFP

RACELAND, Louisiana (AFP) – Jamie Simon worked on a barge in the oily waters for six months following the BP spill last year, cooking for the cleanup workers, washing their clothes and tidying up after them.

One year later, the 32-year-old said she still suffers from a range of debilitating health problems, including racing heartbeat, vomiting, dizziness, ear infections, swollen throat, poor sight in one eye and memory loss.

She blames toxic elements in the crude oil and the dispersants sprayed to dissolve it after the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico about 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the coast of Louisiana on April 20, 2010.

"I was exposed to those chemicals, which I questioned, and they told me it was just as safe as Dawn dishwashing liquid and there was nothing for me to worry about," she said of the BP bosses at the job site.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110417/ts_alt_afp/usoilpollutionenvironmentbphealth

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Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com/

[sakabatou]

1. There was a lot of toxic stuff in the oil and dispersants

And BP KNEW it was toxic.

[Bennyboy]

2. Shame shame...

Nothing to see here, move along.

The media has moved on.

[Trajan]

3. Well dont THIS sound like a bunch of UNamerican complaints .....

No wonder the unions must be broken and the social contract destroyed ; To put complainers like this obviously lying woman in her place ...

(psssst :sarcasm: )

[plumbob]

4. Everything in the oilfield is toxic, extremely so. Long chain molecules

leading to cancer, emphysema, and many other killing and wasting diseases.

Very few workers ever get to retire.

I know. I've lived in the middle of the largest field in the US my entire life.

I only wish we could force management to live here with the workers. Perhaps then their lily asses could get some changes made.

[midnight]

5. K&R

[CoffeeCat]

6. This is so sickening...

...when you realize that Corexit was only used as PR device to help out BP in the short run
with image problems related to the spill.

BP realized that they couldn't have large plumes of noticeable oil in the Gulf, and they
also couldn't have big swathes of oil washing up on the shores. They had to disperse it
and hide the problem until the media stopped reporting on the story.

This way--people wouldn't "see" how much oil was in the Gulf and therefore BP could hide
and downplay the devastation the disaster would cause to wildlife, people, the economy,
the beaches and the Gulf in general.

Corexit was just a way for BP to shirk responsibility. And they used Corexit knowing that
it would poison people and do great harm to wildlife and people for years to come. They
didn't care about the death and suffering. BP only cared about covering up, keeping their
profits and circumventing accountability.

The BP disaster schooled me, that's for sure. You can talk about Fascism and how we're
sliding into it. But I didn't realize how true that was, until the BP disaster. Our
EPA told BP to stop using Corexit. They didn't and they kept using it and continued to
increase the use of it. The government stopped demanding that BP stop using Corexit and
there were no stories that questioned this. Then, we saw BP using our own Coast Guard
to police the beaches and keep people off of the water and out of the shores--so that BP
could cover up their crimes. Remember how things suddenly got "militant" on the shores
and in the water--and how even reporters were threatened if they took pictures.

The corporations are in control of our country. Their wants supersede orders from the Obama
Administration and they're allowed to commandeer our Coast Guard for activities that infringe
on our civil rights and impede our movement in public places. I was taught in journalism
school that as long as you're on a public street or area--you can take pictures. It's part
of the First Amendment. Not in this country, with the corporations calling the shots, it's not.

Sad, sad disaster that caused so much damage--and revealed a lot of garbage too.

[yngdip]

7. well put^^^

and very sad indeed

[babsinva]

11. @coffeeCat and others - BP oil spill similar to hydrofracking

As far as your comment regarding shirking responsibility and
covering up - same thing happened with hydrofracking, and some
of same chemicals too.  See here
http://www.squidoo.com/hydrofracking-and-updates

[Uben]

8. Ducosate sodium is used in Corexit

Another of it's uses as a dispersant is in laxatives. Here are some of the adverse effects-




The most common are diarrhea, stomach pain and cramps. If you take the liquid form, sore throat may be experienced. In very rare cases, rectal bleeding may occur. If this happens, stop taking the medication and inform your doctor.

There are also cases where allergic reactions take place. These range from swelling/itching of the face or throat, swelling of the tongue, or rash. There are also reports that some people suffer from nausea and experience shortness of breath.

I found this out when I found a gel cap in my medicine cabinet and Googled it to see what it was for. It said it was a chemical used to make Corexit.

[indimuse]

9. there is more to this than meets the eye..

straight up murder! and this current administration IS covering it up! shame! :mad:

[Uncle Joe]

10. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, cory.

[Honeycombe8]

12. I hate to hear this. I'm from La. Interesting point, though...most of the people...

who are being affected, or were affected, would vote for MORE oil drilling, despite the disaster. That's why that rig was there in the first place. La. is filled with diehard far right Republicans who are all about oil, oil, oil, despite the negative consequences. There have been negative consequences in La. for decades because of all the oil drilling off the Gulf Coast. And yet, they wouldn't trade that business for anything.

So....makes me wonder. Just how sad should I feel for people who want even MORE oil drilling, after the disaster? I don't want anyone to suffer financial or physical problems because of it. But if someone says "bring it on," and then it's brought on...well...????

[Aerows]

13. I live a mile from the Coast

cand when the wind blew in from the South, you could literally SMELL oil in the air. I started noticing that every time I went outside my eyes started burning. I had to take out my contacts for a week, and finally realized that it had to do with the chemicals in the air, so I quit going outside.

If that was a MILE away from the actual Coast, imagine how it affected workers directly breathing that shit.

This wasn't psychosomatic, either. My eyes only started that horrible burning during the worst of the spill and cleanup was going on. It mysteriously went away after the worst of it was over.