Not sure if they are still in the hospital, but 7 fishermen, on May 26th, part of the 100+boat flotilla battling the oil offshore, were hospitalized with "severe headaches". All blamed the dispersant, Corexit. The entire flotilla, 100+ boats was recalled from the Gulf.
In addition, on May 28th,
HOUMA, La. - The unified incident command for oil spill operations is currently medically evacuating two crewmen from two controlled burn fleet vessels, after they started experiencing chest pains.
The media advisory from Deepwater Horizon stressed that "no dispersants are deployed within two miles of any vessel or platform."
Lisa Jackson with the EPA seriously wants us to believe that a two mile space makes the use of the dispersants safe for workers. Remember, the EPA has approved the use of Corexit, despite it's ban in the UK.
Now recently Lisa Jackson, visiting here and interviewed by local TV, stressed that if anyone could present lab results proving that Corexit toxic, well...I guess she was intimating the EPA would stop allowing its use.
Corexit is, Lisa Jackson, banned in the UK. Why don't you borrow their tests?
Read Nalco's FAQs on Corexit as the company says zilch about the possible effects on humans working to clean up the oil.
Jackson essentially is setting up a bizarre benchmark and putting it on other entities to prove that the use of Corexit is toxic. Watch the video I linked to above. I thought the EPA employed scientists to conduct such tests. I predict that the use of the dispersant in the gulf will eventually bring Lisa Jackson down, and possibly others (NOAA?).
I wonder if my barely controlled rage is seeping through these words as I type them, as I watch my beloved Gulf being used as a gigantic laboratory for the testing and use of the toxic Corexit.
Jackson recently ordered BP to reduce the use of Corexit to 12,000 gallons a day, down from 70,000. We have no proof, that this is being done. We do know that the dispersants caused the oil beneath the surface, to "sneak" into the marsh, causing booms to be completely ineffective, well-documented by other diarists here. It could be argued that allowing the oil to collect on the surface, where it could be siphoned off, would have saved much of the Louisiana marshes.
Here is the French Connection with Corexit, from the New York Times:
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: May 14, 2010
Nalco and Exxon Chemical Company formed a joint venture company in 1994 called Nalco/Exxon Energy Chemicals L.P. Nalco was acquired in 1999 by the multinational corporation then called Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, which eventually bought out Exxon Mobil’s interest in the joint venture in 2001. An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the Nalco-Exxon connection.
Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux is one of the notorious multi-nationals engaged in water privatization all over the planet, driving up the price of clean water for indigenous populations everywhere.
Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux is being given a free ride in the use of Corexit in the Gulf. Scientists are now saying that they suspect the use of dispersant is causing the gigantic underwater plumes that they are just beginning to track.
"Here is a situation where, unless you're looking at the chemical fingerprints, [the oil] is absolutely not visible," Hollander said. "It's not some Italian vinaigrette or anything like that. It's absolutely, perfectly clear."
But, Hollander said, even this clear-looking water could contain enough oil to be toxic to small animals at the base of the gulf food chain. He said he was also worried that the oil contains traces of "dispersants," soap-like chemicals sprayed into the oil to break it up.
"You don't want to put soap into a fish tank," Hollander said.
This discovery seems to confirm the fears of some scientists that -- because of the depth of the leak and the heavy use of chemical "dispersants" -- this spill was behaving differently than others. Instead of floating on top of the water, it may be moving beneath it.
That would be troubling because it could mean the oil would slip past coastal defenses such as "containment booms" designed to stop it on the surface. Already, scientists and officials in Louisiana have reported finding thick oil washing ashore despite the presence of floating booms.
It would also be a problem for hidden ecosystems deep under the gulf. There, scientists say, the oil could be absorbed by tiny animals and enter a food chain that builds to large, beloved sport-fish like red snapper. It might also glom on to deep-water coral formations, and cover the small animals that make up each piece of coral.
This is crime on top of crime, the rape of the Gulf of Mexico two-fold.
Defend the Gulf, defend our waterways, take back our coast!
Remember the rally this Sunday in Jackson Square in the French Quarter:
Join us on SUNDAY, MAY 30th at 1 PM in Jackson Square, New Orleans, to demand the Federal Government and BP devote all possible available resources to stopping the continued outpouring of crude oil into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico NOW!
Calling for volunteers to help in organization of event; distributing fliers, contacting media, and phone campaign. If you are interested in helping, please send contact info to : bpoilflood@gmail.com
murderedgulf.wordpress.com
NEED PUBLIC SPEAKERS with knowledge about about the situation. Please email bpoilflood@gmail with short description of your area of expertise, affiliation.
Thanks!! Please remember ,this is a peaceful protest! Please ,if you feel you cannot abide by that ,Do Not Come!