Oil Spill Clean-up Workers: We’re Getting Sick From Lack of Protective Gear

[Omaha Steve]

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6041/oil_spill_cleanup_workers_lack_ppe_fall_ill/

Thursday May 27 1:11 pm


Grant Gaudet waits with other fishermen who have been recruited to help with the clean-up of the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, on May 2 in Boothville, La. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)


By Lindsay Beyerstein

Some fishermen hired by BP to clean up spill oil say they've become ill after being exposed to oil and dispersant without proper personal protective equipment.

Several south Louisiana fishermen working on the cleanup told the LA Times that they had developed headaches, coughing, nausea, and other symptoms. The workers said they'd been working without facemasks or gloves.

BP spokesman Graham McEwen told the Times that he was not aware that any workers were getting sick.

Yesterday, 125 fishing boats working off Breton Sound in Louisiana were called off the job after workers on three separate boats reported nausea, chest pain, and other symptoms. One worker had to be evacuated by air ambulance and two others were driven to hospital, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) wants the Department of Health and Human Services to set up mobile clinics for clean-up workers and send the bill to BP. Melancon outlined the proposal in a letter to Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. As Melancon explained in the May 19 letter, workers are being exposed to hazardous materials on a daily basis and many are hours away from the nearest clinic.

[burnsei sensei]

1. Of all the news I've heard about this spill,

these stories of people sickening upon exposure to the stuff jetting out of that pipe scare me most.
If this is what it does to humans, think with great dread about what it is doing to the animal and plant life submarine and just on the surface!
This is an event of apocalyptic proportions in the ecosystem of the Gulf, and in the life of the Americas.
This is like the drying of the lakes in the valley of Mexico.

[madrchsod]

2. it`s expensive.....

giving new ppe`s each day is just to expensive for BP....

[Earth Bound Misfit]

3. WHINERS!!1ONE!!

Sarcasm, obviously.

K & R

[lib2DaBone]

4. This reminds me of 911.. when OSHA said the asbestos-filled air was fine..

.. not to worry... asbestos is GOOD for you.

No one wants to own the truth, since it means unlimited law suits. So a couple thousand emergency workers in New York now have lung cancer, whick is OK, as long as Larry Silverstein and the Bush Family make a buck.

Same thing with the oil... follow the money... it will lead to the true problem.