Dahr Jamall reports from the ongoing disaster as a result of the BP oil spill. Last October, a chemist,Dr. Wilma Subra, conducted the blood tests for volatile solvents on eight people working on the coast. The results were handed to press officer, Lisa Jackson of the EPA. The results show …”toxic chemicals present in their blood at levels several times higher than the national average”.
To date the EPA has not acted on these findings.
In response to their oil disaster last summer that released at least 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP admitted to using at least 1.9 million gallons of widely banned toxic Corexit dispersants (which have been banned in 19 countries) to sink the oil. The dispersants contain chemicals that many scientists and toxicologists have warned are dangerous to humans, marine life, and wildlife.
Earlier this year on May 20, the EPA told BP it had 24 hours to find a less toxic alternative, but the EPA’s request was ignored. Then on May 25, BP was given a directive by the EPA to scale back their spraying of the Gulf of Mexico with dispersants. The Coast Guard overlooked the EPA’s directive and provided BP with 74 exemptions in 48 days to use the dispersants.
Residents in Mississippi and Louisiana told Al Jazeera that they believe BP continues to use the toxic dispersants, but the EPA will not respond to their appeals for information and help.
Jesse Fineran works within the Hancock County Mississippi Emergency Management Agency as an oil spill response worker within the Emergency Operations Center.
“They keep spraying [dispersants],” Fineran told Al Jazeera, “We keep seeing this foam coming in just about everyday.”
His attempts to alert EPA of the ongoing use of dispersants, as well as many other concerns he has about BP’s response to the disaster, have been largely ignored.
Fineran provided Al Jazeera with a copy of an email he sent on July 26 to Sherryl Carbonaro and Carter Williamson of the EPA, along with several other people.
