Jan 14 2011
Government, BP, Ignore Shocking Health Effects from Spill
The National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Deepwater Drilling on Tuesday released it final report to the President. The report, titled “Deepwater: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling”, is the result of an Executive Order to investigate the BP oil spill. The Commission made many recommendations for reform, including increased industry regulation, but these are non-binding. Three corporations were involved in the construction and maintenance of the Macando well, and all three have publicly reacted to the release. BP stated it looked forward to reviewing the report, and Transocean placed all blame squarely on BP. The third corporation, Halliburton, disagreed with portions of the report that found fault with its cement work. In a press release Tyson Slocum, Director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program stated, “Now, to save lives, the environment and the Gulf economy, Congress must take up and pass [existing stalled legislation] and adopt the commission’s recommendations.” Meanwhile, the effects of the spill, which unleashed 4.9 million barrels of oil into Gulf coast waters, are ongoing and devastating. Reporting for Al Jazeera English and Truthout.org independent journalist Dahr Jamail has been following the effects of oil and dispersant chemicals on the local environment and Gulf Coast residents. Jamail found that coastal waters still have brown, foamy top layers, sand covered in matter resembling coffee grounds, and very high levels of chemical toxins. Seafood has long been declared safe to eat by area industries, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, the EPA and President Obama. However testing reveals Blue Crab, Shrimp, mussels, fish, and snails contain dangerous levels of toxins. Gulf coast residents, from clean-up workers submerged in Corexit treated waters to residents 100 miles from the coast are experiencing serious health problems. Issues range from headaches and respiratory problems to cancer.
GUEST: Dahr Jamail, award-winning independent journalist, author of Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq
Read Dahr Jamail’s reports here: www.dahrjamailiraq.com
One Response to “Government, BP, Ignore Shocking Health Effects from Spill”
Pretty words and wishful, PR-driven science cannot mitigate what has actually happened. The complex chemical carnage created by the blowout and BP’s sacrifice of the long-term livability of the Gulf of Mexico for the prospect of keeping its precious wellhead intact is lurking beneath the waves, far from the media’s myopic tunnel vision. This video from After the Press explains what is really happening, and that BP knew all along that it would:
http://www.youtube.com/afterthepress#p/a/u/2/vfv34nyAWO0