Written by Dege Legg
Friday, September 03, 2010 |
Concerns over air and water quality along the Gulf coast continue to rise among residents as they ponder the short and long term effects of oil and dispersants released into the Gulf of Mexico in relation to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
On Aug. 25 it was reported that 13.3 ppm of Corexit was found near the home of Cotton Bayou, Ala., resident Margaret Long. That was followed by this week's revelation that 50.3 ppm of Corexit's 2-butoxyethanol was found in the backyard swimming pool of the Schebler family of Homosassa, Fl. To further illustrate the high level of legitimate concern and alarm among Gulf coast residents, this article, posted yesterday at the Huffington Post, details the fact that human blood tests among Gulf Coast residents are beginning to show dangerous levels of toxic exposure to chemicals related to crude oil and dispersants.
From Jerry Cope the article, "No Safe Harbor on the Gulf Coast":
The use of the Corexit dispersant 9500 and the highly toxic 9527 by BP, with the approval and assistance of the US Coast Guard and EPA, has been the subject of intense scrutiny and criticism. Never before has such a huge quantity of the toxic compound been used anywhere on the planet. Most countries including NATO allies ban it's use and will only grant approval as a last resort after other methods have failed. Britain has banned its use altogether. The NOAA provided extensive information summarizing other nation's policies in regards to Corexit after Senator Barbara Mikulski demanded the information from EPA administrator Lisa Jackson during congressional hearings in July. While the dispersant serves to break down crude oil on the surface and thus makes the oil invisible from the air, it is highly toxic and bioaccumulates in the marine food chain. In humans it is a known carcinogen and its use was widely condemned after Exxon/Valdez and the horrifying health effects on the populations exposed to it there. As it evaporates and becomes airborne, the toxic compounds have moved on shore, creating health impacts that, although apparently large from the numbers of people affected, the full extent is unknown. BP and the US government have effectively been performing the largest chemical experiment in history on a civilian population without their knowledge or consent.
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This article briefly discusses BP’s strategy to limit its liability in regard to the Deepwater Horizon blowout. This strategy includes, but is not limited to, intentionally underestimating the rate of flow of oil that’s being released into the Gulf of Mexico, prohibiting independent measurement of the BP oil gusher by unbiased third party scientists and engineers, the excessive and unprecedented use of dispersants (both on the surface and underwater), systematically and intentionally collecting as small an amount of oil as possible from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and controlling and restricting media access to the areas affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil gusher.
http://renergie.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/bps-strategy-to-limit-liability-in-regard-to-its-gulf-oil-gusher/
Although this article was published on July 11, 2010, it is still timely.