Thursday, July 8, 2010

BP, Governments Downplay Public Health Risk From Oil and Dispersants whilst Broome hosts oil spill response training


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/the-big-lie-bp-government_b_638369.html

William Rea, MD, who founded the Environmental Health Center-Dallas, treated a number of sick Exxon Valdez cleanup workers. He once told me, "When you have sick people and sick animals, and they are sick because of the same chemical, that's the strongest evidence possible that that chemical is a problem."

It's not just skin rashes and blisters. At community forums, I commonly hear from adults and children with persistent coughs, stuffy sinuses, headaches, burning eyes, sore throats, ear bleeds, and fatigue. These symptoms are consistent across the four Gulf states that I have visited. Further, the symptoms of respiratory problems, central nervous system distress, and skin irritation are consistent with overexposure to crude oil through the two primary routes of exposure: inhalation and skin contact.

Most distressing to me are stories about sick children. "Dose plus host makes the poison," I learned in toxicology. A small child is at risk of breathing a higher dose of contaminants per body weight than an adult. Children, pregnant women, people with compromised or stressed immune systems like cancer survivors and asthma sufferers, and African Americans are more at risk from oil and chemical exposure - the latter because they are prone to sickle cell anemia and 2-butoxyethanol can cause, or worsen, blood disorders.

Public officials have failed to sound an alarm about the public health threat because three federal agencies - DHHS, EPA, and OSHA - cannot find any unsafe levels of oil in air or water. Perhaps the federal air and water standards are not stringent enough to protect the public from oil pollution. Our federal laws are outdated and do not protect us from the toxic threat from oil - now widely recognized in the scientific and medical community.

BP is still in the dark ages on oil toxicity. BP officials stress that, by the time oil gets to shore, it is "weathered" and missing the highly volatile compounds like the carcinogenic benzene, among others. BP fails to mention the threat from dispersed oil, ultrafine particles (PAHs), and chemical dispersants, which include industrial solvents and proprietary compounds, many hazardous to humans.

If oil was so nontoxic, then why are the spill response workers giving hazardous waste training? Our federal government should stop pretending that everything is okay. What isn't safe for workers isn't safe for the general public either.
On the 1st of July is was reported by the local Kimberley ABC that a pecial training sessions are to be held in Broome to help ensure local authorities know how to respond in the event of an oil spill.

The Department of Transport's oil spill response team will host three days of training this week at Broome Port for port workers, government officers and members of the private sector. Appropriately,participants will be taught how to quickly assess spills that reach the coast and how to use equipment, such as containment booms, to limit their spread.

Coordinator Matt Verney says the team is able to draw on its experiences with last year's Montara oil spill."All the training is an opportunity to get the latest information and try out new equipment, and also put in place the lessons learnt from other incidents, so we're best prepared next time we do have an incident," he said.

Redhand would like to suggest that Matt Verney reads the article in full at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/the-big-lie-bp-government_b_638369.html and if at all possible visit the Gulf of Mexico and offer them his expertise because they sure could use it. The fact of the matter is once oil flows death follows, economic, environmental and social structures disintegrates.

26 comments:

  1. Well things in the Gulf of Mexico are continuing on in a Montara sort of way.NOAA are hiding much of the information about the effects of the gusher,even though BP have access to all of it straight away.The public are being told nothing,in fact even leading scientists are in the dark.I can only imagine what the fumes must be like for the people on the rigs and ships in the area of the spill.Expect a lot of very sick people,and of course a vast cover up.Some old news has resurfaced regarding the British government releasing the Lockerbie bomber.This was done to aid BP to secure a billion dollar offshore drilling deal with Libya.The whole stinking deal could be investigated all over again.It was said the bomber was riddled with cancer and would only live for 3 months.A doctor has now come out and said he could live for another 10 years.Another day another stinking mess.And of course lets not forget poor old us,we must sacrifice our most wonderful country to a vast polluting gas and oil hub.Meanwhile a few hundred kilometers south are large tracts of country that were totally destroyed by over grazing sheep.Places where the top 4 or 5 feet of top soil and dirt dissapeared long ago.A clump of grass or a twisted tree sit on a little hill on a sea of gravel.When will these acts of gross mismanagement ever end?Just heard that Chu has delayed the testing of "Top Hat 10".Anything to do with the well and seafloor being too damaged to handle the pressure?Watch out anything could happen!

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  2. queensland gas projects on hold over groundwater contamination fears.abc news.

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  3. bp knows how to respond to a toxic oil spill-give all the dirtiest jobs to minority groups.

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  4. Another Exxon Valdez size spill has entered the Gulf of Mexico since they removed the cap last weekend!

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  5. colin barnetts birthday today.joe roe's court case is heard today.may the bird of paradise crap all over his bday cake.

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  6. even more freak outs for the freakout crew!try this one on for size!http://www.helium.com/items/1882339-doomsday-how-bp-gulf-disaster-may-have-triggered-a-world-killing-event

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  7. They're hiding it alright,this story proves it.http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/impact-on-wildlife-of-bps-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill-worse-than-thought-say-biologists/story-e6frg6so-1225892240462

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  8. Hillary Clinton has been asked to see if BP will put its Libyan deal on hold until the Lockerbie enquiry is held.[It seems BP aided the release of the bomber to get a drilling deal done].If the Australian government had any conscience they would do the same,not just for BP,but for Shell,Chevron and all companies drilling in Australian waters.We should only accept good operators who drill with a conscience in all areas of the world.And then only the ones who can show they are professional at it,can handle the risks involved,and stay the hell out of sensitive areas.

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  9. application in this weeks broome advertiser,inpex to,among other things, run a 800klm pipeline to darwin.now barnett,klc,woodside and all swear its too expensive to run a pipeline further south than jpp?this is far worse than b grade movie stuff-its pathetic!some one blow these c-grade dickheads out of the water please.

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  10. breaking news from Texas=Well,well,well

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  11. correction:that should read;Wahl,wahl,wahl

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  12. BP admits to lobbying for release of Lockerbie bomber.http://newsbythesecond.com/embattled-bp-admits-to-lobbying-for-lockerbie-bomber%E2%80%99s-release/3399/

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  13. So much for the war on terror!Where is the Australian government in all this?Our soldiers are dying every day in this war and here we are supporting the enemy!This is like Standard oil supplying Germany,Australia supplying Japan in WW2.This disgrace should be sorted out,no BP in the Kimberley!Our soldiers should not have to sacrifice their lives for a disgusting farce.

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  14. abc link to lockerbie story,http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/16/2955202.htm

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  15. its all happening,breaking news in queensland,government covered up carcinogenic water in gas drilling scandal.http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/16/2955669.htm?section=justin

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  16. e mail the premier and pm and tell them its not on,what a mess.

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  17. heres another good one.of the 50,000 wells drilled in the gulf since 1950,almost half have been permanently abandoned.a couple of thousand are semi abandoned.none of them have been monitored to any reasonable standard.even die hard oil men will tell you,cement plugs can fail over time.so all hands on deck,how many are leaking?what applies in the gulf of mexico applies everywhere.woodside have been around this country for 30-40 years?count in all the other companies that have drilled holes around the place and you must have a s*** load of holes.what regime,if any,does australia have in this regard?

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  18. for the story on the holes,go to,http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/15/gulf-oil-spill-abandoned-wells_n_648517.html

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  19. climate change will be an election issue.these photos should make good viewing for anyone who has had any doubts about glaciers vanishing or who is bulling who.http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/archive-22/?ref=opinion

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  20. seep reported near bp macondo well.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/18/gulf-oil-seep-methane-sus_n_650531.html

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  21. re kimberley uranium debate.cyanide leaching is used in gold mining.gold and uranium are sometimes found together,so its possible cyanide leaching has some contact with uranium mining.in situ leaching[isl]of uranium is usually done with a strong acid solution.when the ore is treated on the surface a huge amount of sulfuric acid is used.for a good easy to read factsheet try,http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/a/32.html

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  22. Oh!What a lovely war!http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/lockerbie-uk-labour-to-be-exposed/story-e6frg6so-1225893653561 They've got their nuts in a vice over this one.I just feel so sorry for all the wounded soldiers,and the dead ones families.Not to mention all the innocent victims and their families.This is the real truth about "the coalition of the willing".

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  23. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/lockerbie-uk-labour-to-be-exposed/story-e6frg6so-1225893653561

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  24. R.I.P. James Price Point ?

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  25. i swear i heard bergman on the radio and he was talking like us!wtf.

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