Warning To Gulf Volunteers: Almost Every Cleanup Worker From The 1989 Valdez Disaster Is Now Dead

Originally posted by Oneolddude
Well,I call BS on this.

I know personally a number of people who cleaned up the oil from that and they are not dead.

Of course people that were involved have died since then.

People NOT involved have died since then too.

This is another BS article.

Are you still living in your santa barbara lesson? Listen, that spill was 8000-10000 barrels a day for 10 days, which necessitated no need for hundreds of thousands of barrels of extra chemicals dumped on it. You gotta live outside your city newspaper from time to time. Check your history lesson here. And don't forget, that happened fifty years ago (decades before dispersants). I feel bad it happened but c'mon dude......

reply to post by monkeySEEmonkeyDO


All I can say is wow.

I mean I knew it was toxic. But still.

Wow.

And this is an oils spill many times worst? God. FYI, we should observe hospital report numbers in the gulf.

reply to post by SWCCFAN


Gotcha. Thanks. The stories in the media were pretty conflicting. But first hand is first hand. So your friends were told not to wear them at all? Until told to do so and until issued (fitte) ones by BP? Just want to make sure I have that straight.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


You and others make me sick regurgitating that 20B amount, do you know realize that 20B for the magnitude of this spill is like killing half the people in a bus accident and giving them 20 bucks to split among themselves!! 200B would be more like an offer!!, the 20B isn't for anything other than good press.

DO THE MATH!!!

My only question is how could they possibly know this is there a study done? How large was the sample group what did they die of on coroner reports. Im wondering if there was even a list of people since there was alot of volunteer groups that went up there and help and i doubt they kept lists. Why is it people believe the worst? Hey lets all jump on the band wagon say its hazardous to clean this up we can have osha restrict it and leave the oil on the beaches. Hmmmm seems like these rush to judgments are counterproductive to me.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


That actually makes sense. In my youth I worked on Oil Rigs between construction jobs and OSHA people were regular visitors. I remember them testing the fit of the masks and telling us we must shave every day. Never actually had to wear them though.

I have worked where I did have to wear them all of the time. Hated it. It was a phosphate plant and my section had exposure to various acids in the air from the process of creating acids to be used in the various fertilizers. Same there, the masks had to be approved and fitted or the company was fined. That was about 1975.

This sounds like a mixture of BP's nonsense and the governments incompetence. Hard to know where one ends and the other starts.

I'd imagine respiratory problems must be common in people who work in auto mechanics. Although, I know people who lived into their 90's working around it their whole lives.

reply to post by dragonridr


Occasionally we see mention of this up here. Valdez is pristine now however. The little bits of tar they find have long ago lost their toxicity. The smelt population is not back completely yet I think, but wildlife and fish are abundant.

One factor that may be relevant is that many of them were out of work commercial fisherman. They have a low life expectancy anyway due to people dying really young in accidents. Fishing is a tough life. Lots of people die in their early twenties skewing the numbers.

Originally posted by svpwizard
reply to post by ~Lucidity

 

You and others make me sick regurgitating that 20B amount, do you know realize that 20B for the magnitude of this spill is like killing half the people in a bus accident and giving them 20 bucks to split among themselves!! 200B would be more like an offer!!, the 20B isn't for anything other than good press.

DO THE MATH!!!

Excuse me? I "regurgitated" nothing. I've made my stance on what I believe this disaster is going to cost both here and in numerous other threads. Please read what I said more carefully before slinging your venom around. You owe me an apology.

Google Video Link

According to this video, there was a benzene and carcinogen advisory and respirators were required during the Valdez cleanup

Omg, do you people ever stop?

Absolutely ridiculous.

I don't know if this helps the discussion...this discusses the oil spill.

Worker Health and Safety Information from DHH

Voluntary Use of Respirators: Respiratory protection may be worn by employees voluntarily as permitted by the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR Section 1910.134). An employer may provide respirators at employees’ requests or permit employees to use their own respirators if the employer determines that use, in itself, will not create a hazard (29 CFR Section 1910.134(c)(2)(i)).

There are a few other items relating to respirators on that page.


[edit on 30-6-2010 by ~Lucidity]

reply to post by ~Lucidity


You said "Whoa. That was only 20 years ago. Alarming indeed.

No wonder Kenneth Feinberg, the Gulf Spill Independent Claims Fund administrator put in charge of the $20B by Obama, said this a few weeks ago on the PBS NewsHour.

Near the end he mentions that they're keeping in mind future illness claims, as didn't really happen properly with 9/11. It's a good thing I guess, that they're thinking that far ahead...lesson learned. "

I will apologize if I misunderstood your post, the comment gives me the impression yeh its bad but hey look they doled out 20B so all is cool.

Just getting really tired of people thinking that's even close to reparations to the ill soon to be ill, those that have lost there livelihood and the unimaginable damage/death to wildlife and plants within miles of the coast line.

ITS SICK!!

reply to post by svpwizard

Thanks. You misunderstood and maybe I could have been clearer. I mentioned that dude and the $20B because in that interview he admits they know they will need more money due to illnesses. The other link showed they know it's going to cost a whole lot more, and it will be BP's dime.

Whatever happened to having logical debates and working together towards the truth?

This attacking people every time they try to add more information to the conversation is counterproductive to say the least.

If everyone agreed on everything, there would be nothing to talk about.

There are toxins, so yes people are going to get ill. Some won't be bothered at all, some due to health issues will be greatly bothered. Yet others will lie to get in on the law suit bandwagon. Some will even develop psychosomatic illnesses. It is unavoidable. Those all seem like facts to me.

We are angry at BP I think and not each other, I'd hope.

We all have only the reading we have done and our opinions and instincts to guide us.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Actually its not going to be BP's dime because before bush left he and the oil industry left some landmines by way of liability caps on things such as this...... and the 20B was a GIFT of good faith, there cap by the way is only 75M.

reply to post by svpwizard

I believe the current administration made sure that this cap is off the table, and that it was lower than $75M. The latest (in my link or a link on that link anyway), BP is liable for and will pay whatever it costs. Who determines "whatever it costs" is still a bit fuzzy to me.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

"My dad died from asbestosis. He got it from working on the construction of a hospital, ironically enough, back in the mid 70s. He died in 2000."

My neighbor here worked for the city for decades and he got it
from cleaning it out of the schools.

They won't even give him anything.

They threatened to stop his retirement checks.

He has talked to the ACLU and event hey said they can't help him.

How screwed up is that ?

Sorry about your dad. Unfortunately, this is all too common.

The people in NYC and surrounding areas who fell ill and are dying after the 9/11 toxins invaded their bodies are having a struggle with this very issue, which is why I linked that PBS interview in my first post. In that interview it seems to me the administrator of the BP compensation fund was saying they learned a lesson from 9/11 and are aware there may be illness. That gives me a little hope. Whether they make good on that or not...well that remains to be seen.

Probably the most relevant video yet...

www.youtube.com...

In the replies someone stated how they are worried about the people on the coastline and I immediately thought of this vid.

Someone make a new thread on this (no one really looks at mine)

Even oil that you put in your car says right on the can that overexposure can cause health issues. The stuff is toxic.