Oil spill workers given hazardous waste training, but no safety equipment?

HAWAII ISLAND—Last Thursday morning a number of groups organized by the Progressive Change Committee (PCC) called on President Barack Obama to assist oil-spill clean-up workers in the Gulf of Mexico. These groups included Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Water Keeper Alliance, The United Commercial Fisherman, The Louisiana Shrimp Association, The Commercial Fisherman of America, The Nassau Sierra Club in Florida, and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network. Together, those who signed onto the PCC petition, asked the nation’s chief executive officer to step in and demand that clean-up workers who prefer to wear respiratory protective equipment be allowed to do so. Previously, this was not permitted.

By afternoon, Obama’s Unified Command answered the call saying workers would be provided with respirators, while at the same time claiming they didn’t need them. On the same day, CNN reported that a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture who works with the Unified Command backed up the claim by stating that air sampling provided no indication respirators were necessary.

The shift in BP’s policy came as welcome news to those it hired to clean up the Gulf of Mexico. Many of these workers, who are for the most part out-of-work fisherman, are claiming they have been made sick by exposure to chemicals associated with the oil spill.

Benzene and 2-butoxyethanol are just two of the chemicals causing concern. Both were detected in the area were workers are active as a result of tests conducted by BP, April 27 through June 1. These chemicals are said to cause a variety of ailments including skin rashes, blisters, coughs, sinuses, headaches, burning eyes, sore throats, ear bleeds, and fatigue. Respiratory problems, central nervous system distress, and skin irritation are all associated with exposure to oil through either inhalation or skin contact.

While many workers cleaning up the oil have sought treatment for these same ailments, their local public officials have not shown concern. Instead they are following the lead of federal agencies, which have yet to find what the EPA has determined are hazardous levels of oil in the air or water.

Adding to the lack of concern is BP ‘s claim that once the oil hits shore, it is “weathered’ and no longer contains highly volatile compounds, such as carcinogenic benzene. BP has not addressed threats from dispersed oil, ultrafine particles, and the industrial solvents with proprietary compounds that are being used to disperse the oil.