HEADLINES WE ARE FOLLOWING is a regular feature. In this series of posts we source headlines of local interest from various outlets, mostly local papers and bring them to your attention. The link to the article is supplied, but if you do not have time to read it, we have supplied you with our cliff notes!
Two articles we are following this time about the ongoing saga of the BP oil spill.
Mostly the articles are focused on COREXIT, the dispertant that BP used to cover up their mess, sweep it under the rug so to speak.
It was advised against doing at the time and the scientific community on the scene in the Gulf attests to it being bad news. In fact most people wonder why COREXIT is even manufactured. It seems to be helpful for simply one purpose: to help cover up oil spills.
BP admits to using two million gallons of COREXIT, who knows what the actual number is.
#1 From an article in the Huffington Post titled
Corexit, Oil Dispersant Used By BP, Is Destroying Gulf Marine Life, Scientists Say
“After the spill, BP secured about a third of the world’s supply of dispersants, namely Corexit 9500 and 9527, according to The New York Times. Of the two, 9527 is more toxic. Corexit dispersants emulsify oil into tiny beads, causing them to sink toward the bottom. Wave action and wind turbulence degrade the oil further, and evaporation concentrates the toxins in the oil-Corexit mixture, including dangerous compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), known to cause cancer and developmental disorders.”
and
“A just-released study from the University of South Florida found that underwater plumes of BP oil, dispersed by Corexit, had produced a “massive die-off” of foraminifera, microscopic organisms at the base of the food chain. Other studies show that, as a result of oil and dispersants, plankton have either been killed or have absorbed PAHs before being consumed by other sea creatures.”
LINK http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/25/corexit-bp-oil-dispersant_n_3157080.html
#2 From an article that ran in Newsweek on the anniversary of the BP oil spill
What BP Doesn’t Want You to Know About the 2010 Gulf Spill
Here is an excerpt from a very good, easy to read and informative piece.
“Roughly 58 percent of the 1.84 million gallons of Corexit used in the cleanup was sprayed onto the gulf from C-130 airplanes. The spray sometimes ended up hitting cleanup workers in the face.
“Our boat was sprayed four times,” says Jorey Danos, a 32-year-old father of three who suffered racking coughing fits, severe fatigue, and memory loss after working on the BP cleanup. “I could see the stuff coming out of the plane—like a shower of mist, a smoky color. I could see [it] coming at me, but there was nothing I could do.”
“The next day,” Danos continues, “when the BP rep came around on his speed boat, I asked, ‘Hey, what’s the deal with that stuff that was coming out of those planes yesterday?’ He told me, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I said, ‘Man, that s–t was burning my face—it ain’t right.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I said, ‘Well, could we get some respirators or something, because that s–t is bad.’ He said, ‘No, that wouldn’t look good to the media. You got two choices: you can either be relieved of your duties or you can deal with it.’”
Perhaps the single most hazardous chemical compound found in Corexit 9527 is 2-Butoxyethanol, a substance that had been linked to cancers and other health impacts among cleanup workers on the 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill in Alaska. According to BP’s own data, 20 percent of offshore workers in the gulf had levels of 2-Butoxyethanol two times higher than the level certified as safe by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”
The article goes on, and finally
“And so the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history has been whitewashed—its true dimensions obscured, its victims forgotten, its lessons ignored. Who says cover-ups never work?”
LINK http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/04/22/what-bp-doesn-t-want-you-to-know-about-the-2010-gulf-spill.html
Believe it or not:
*UPDATE: LOUISIANA SENATE VOTES AGAINST A BILL TO STOP USING DISPERSANT IN THE GULF OF MEXICO.
Unbelievable but true.
