Health of Exxon Valdez cleanup workers was never studied

Health of Exxon Valdez cleanup workers was never studied

By Kyle Hopkins | McClatchy Newspapers


ANCHORAGE — You'd think that more than 20 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, scientists would know what, if any, long-term health dangers face the thousands of workers needed to clean up the Gulf of Mexico spill.

You'd be wrong.

"We don't know a damn thing," said Anchorage lawyer Michael Schneider, whose firm talked with dozens of Alaska cleanup workers following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in preparation for a class-action lawsuit that never came.

In New Orleans last week, U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin delivered a similar, if more subtle, message to a gathering of health experts meeting to talk about how to protect people working on the massive BP oil spill still gushing in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Current scientific literature is inconclusive with regard to the potential hazards resulting from the spill," Benjamin said. "Some scientists predict little or no toxic effect . . . while other scientists express serious concerns about the potential short-term and long-term impacts the exposure to oil and dispersants could have on the health of responders and our communities."

That lack of published, peer-reviewed study of the Exxon Valdez cleanup workers has made protecting the growing number workers in the Gulf of Mexico all the more difficult and has Alaska watchdogs warning that BP and government regulators are repeating mistakes that made people sick a generation ago.

more...

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/29/96782/health-of-exxon-valdez-cleanup.html

The better to sweep shit under the rug with, my child...

as steps in our backyard to get to a part of the landscaping (kind of a treacherous little hill). these ties were treated with coal-tar creosote as a preservative. the ties had to be cut to length...and with the creosote laced sawdust flying the two guys doing the work labored through the day with their shirts off...wearing shorts...and getting caked with that sawdust.

after ONE DAY, both of them were so sick from having that mess penetrate their skin and lungs (they did not wear any sort of mask starting the day but eventually tied their shirts around their faces to help) that neither of them could work and one went to the hospital. i know both of the guys recovered...i recall seeing them later doing other handyman work around the house. but the fact that a mere one day's exposure to that mess took them down, i can easily believe that prolonged exposure due to protracted cleanup efforts could wear you down or even kill you.

sP

But it's not like they have a lot of extra money laying around to pay for that kind of health monitoring and research. Exxon Valdez, clean-up of the World Trade Centers debris, and now the Gulf of Mexico. People see the disaster and the devastation, and out of the most altruistic motives, some of the best motives of humanity, they respond and help. For their efforts, the powers that be offer them a warm smile, a hearty handshake, and practically nothing else. Many workers and volunteers who go into these areas are signing a death warrant, and the responsible parties could give less than a hoot.

but don't know why this isn't/wasn't more of an issue in Alaska. We could have used the data now.