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A13
news
Monday, April 21, 2014 www.guardian.co.tt Guardian
and BP to measure potential expo-
sure levels and help ensure com-
pliance with established safety
procedures," BP said in an email
to The Associated Press.
Not all used that equipment,
however. Dr Edward Trapido, a
cancer specialist and the lead
researcher on a study of cleanup
crews and their families that is
underway at the Louisiana State
University Health Sciences Center,
said many worked without the
protective clothing because of
sweltering heat.
Trapido said results of the long-
term health studies could help
improve response to future oil
spills and other disasters.
"Oil is not going away, and
whatever kind of energy it is---
whether it s nuclear, whether it s
coal or oil---all of these have had
problems in recent years where
people get exposed to it," Trapido
said. (AP)
"After we took into account where
people lived and other factors, it does
appear that the prevalence of depres-
sion was about 30 per cent higher
among those who had cleanup jobs
than among those who did not," San-
dler said. "The preliminary trends were
similar for anxiety."
She cautioned that the findings were
preliminary and added that it is too
early to tell whether exposure to oil or
chemical dispersants might account
for the difference.
The study is funded by NIH, which
received a $US10 million award from
London-based BP, part of US$500 mil-
lion the oil giant has committed to
spend over 10 years for environmental
and health research.
Researchers compiled a list of
100,000 candidates, drawn from
sources including rosters of mandatory
safety classes that cleanup crews
attended and from records of people
who were issued badges permitting
access to oiled areas.
They reached nearly 33,000 for
interviews, mostly cleanup workers but
also some who applied for cleanup
work but were not hired.
Of those interviewed, about 11,000
went through physical examinations
that included blood and blood pressure
tests and measurements of lung func-
tion. Water and air samples taken dur-
ing the spill also will be used to attempt
to pinpoint how much exposure work-
ers may have had to toxic substances.
Sandler said Friday that about 4,000
of those who had physical exams will
be invited to take part in a second
round at medical facilities at one of
two locations: The University of South
Alabama in Mobile or LSU Health Sci-
ences Center in New Orleans. Mean-
while, all of the original participants
will be encouraged to keep taking part
in surveys in the project, which Sandler
hopes will continue for at least ten
years.
In the AP interview, Sandler empha-
sised that making any direct correlation
between health concerns and the spill
could prove challenging because many
of the workers held other jobs that put
them in contact with oil.
Some worked with boat engines, did
regular hazard mediation work or
worked at chemical plants. Many also
are smokers.
The researchers will try to account
for smoking or other factors that could
ruin health, and narrow in on problems
tied to spill exposure.
They plan to monitor the health of
study participants for at least ten years,
maybe longer.
Fisherman Bert Ducote says he
knows physical and emotional pain
from having worked the cleanup.
Ducote said dozens of boils have turned
up on his neck, back and stomach since
the spill---and he theorises, though
shared no medical records that could
prove, that his problems stem from
the cleanup.
Ducote said he spent months han-
dling the boom used to corral oil. Even
with protective gear and rubber boots,
he said his shirt often got wet with the
combination of crude oil, sea water
and chemical dispersant. Ducote, like
Barisich, said he is filing a claim under
the medical settlement.
"That has been a disaster in our
lives," said Ducote, from the town of
Meraux, in coastal St Bernard Parish.
"The little amount of money they re
trying to give us, it s never going to
replace our quality of life, our health."
In response, BP points to language
in US District Judge Carl Barbier s order
approving the medical settlement. Bar-
bier noted that both sides said the set-
tlement was a fair and reasonable alter-
native to litigation, and that fewer than
100 of 200,000 potential class mem-
bers objected.
BP also lists numerous steps it took
after the disaster to protect workers
health, including protective clothing
and safety classes.
Cleanup workers who faced possible
contact with oil and dispersants were
"provided safety training and appro-
priate personal protective equipment,
and were monitored by federal agencies
BP OIL SPILL from Page A12
Cleanup workers more likely to suffer with depression
Greg Hight of Tiger Tanks Trinidad Unlimited contracted by Petrotrin to help
with the clean up efforts at Coffee Beach La Brea, places a boom near the
home of a resident as the tide came in and oil began to come close to the
home. PHOTO: KRISTIAN DE SILVA
Employees of State-owned
Petrotrin pull a containment
boom as they try to contain
the spread of the oil spill at
Queen's Beach La Brea
in December.
PHOTO: RISHI RAGOONATH
WHAT HAPPENED
The Deepwater Horizon well
was drilling the night of April 20
when it was rocked by an
explosion and began burning. The
rig sank less than two days later
and crude oil gushed into the Gulf
from the blown-out Macondo well.
The well's location about a mile
below the Gulf surface and the
pressure of oil and natural gas
erupting from it severely
hampered efforts to cap the well.
In July 2010, a cap was
successfully placed over the well
after an estimated 200 million
gallons of oil escaped, though that
amount is one of many points that
remain in dispute. The collapsed
rig remains on the Gulf bottom.
The spill led to a moratorium for a
time on deep-water drilling in the
Gulf and assurances from federal
officials that offshore oil drilling
regulation and monitoring would
be tightened in an effort to
prevent future disasters like the
BP spill. Drilling has since resumed.
CLAIMS, SETTLEMENTS, DISPUTES
Two phases of a trial in US
District Court have been held in
New Orleans and a third is
schooled to begin in January,
dealing with matters of fault,
questions of negligence, how
much oil ultimately was spewed
into the Gulf---all of which will
determine how much the oil giant
will have to pay in penalties under
the federal Clean Water Act.
Meanwhile, BP estimates that,
since May 2010, it has paid out
roughly US$11 billion so far in
claims to individuals and
businesses over economic losses
and damages, plus nearly US$1.5
billion to government. In 2012, the
company and a committee
representing numerous plaintiffs
agreed to a settlement resolving
most economic and property
damage claims. However, a court-
appointed administrator's
interpretation of that settlement
remains in dispute. The company
initially estimated the settlement
would result in it paying US$7.8
billion in claims. Later, as it started
to challenge the business payouts,
the company said it no longer
could give a reliable estimate for
how much the deal will cost.
In 2012, BP agreed to pay
US$4.5 billion in a settlement with
the US government and to plead
guilty to felony counts related to
the deaths of the 11 workers and
lying to Congress. The figure
includes nearly US$1.3 billion in
criminal fines---the largest such
penalty ever---along with
payments to several government
entities.
Two BP well site leaders are
charged with manslaughter, and a
former executive is charged with
lying to authorities.
In 2013, the Justice Department
reached a $1.4 billion settlement
with rig owner Transocean Ltd,
requiring the Switzerland-based
company to pay US$1 billion in
civil penalties and US$400 million
in criminal penalties and plead
guilty to a misdemeanor charge of
violating the Clean Water Act.
Also in December 2013, former
BP engineer Kurt Mix was
convicted in federal court of
obstruction of justice after
prosecutors said he deleted text
messages to and from a
supervisor and a BP contractor to
stymie a grand jury's investigation
of the spill. He has motions
pending before the trial judge to
have the jury's verdict thrown out.
(Washington Post)
CRIMINAL CASES