The writer was part of a delegation that traveled
to the Gulf at the onset of the crisis to meet with affected
fishermen, workers and activists as part of the Seize BP campaign calling for the seizure
of BP’s assets to pay for the cleanup and fully compensate economic
losses of those in the region. Demonstrations were held in cities across the country at
that time.
One year after causing the worst oil spill in history, British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon rig management company, Transocean, has claimed 2010 as their “best year in safety performance” in their company’s history, even as workers in the Gulf region continue to suffer from the disaster.
Adding insult to injury, executives from BP and Transocean recently rewarded themselves with huge bonuses congratulating themselves on their safety record. BP’s CEO Steve Newman’s bonus last year was $374,062, which is really just a tip since Newman usually rakes in almost $6 million a year. Transocean managers—the owners of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig—received up to two-thirds of the total possible “safety” bonuses.
Role of capitalist state exposed
The explosion on the Deep Horizon off-shore rig 50 miles off the Louisiana coast left 11 workers dead, 17 injured and more than 200 million tons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, wreaking untold damage on
the environment and economies of the Gulf states. The aftermath of the profit-driven catastrophe showed the true power of big oil and exposed the government and state as managers of the interests of the capitalist class.
Millions of gallons of oil poured into the Gulf and hundreds of thousands of gallons of Corexit and other toxic dispersants—banned in 19 countries—were pumped in to conceal it. At the same time, the
Obama administration approved dozens of off-shore drilling projects in the early days of the crisis, showing all the more in Obama’s own words that the federal government’s relationship to big oil is indeed “cozy.”
It took BP several attempts to cap the gusher, finally succeeding on July 15—nearly three months later.
CNN just received the “prestigious” Peabody Award for journalism for their comprehensive coverage of the disaster, acting as only one mouthpiece of the apparatus to echo BP’s efforts and the federal government’s endorsement.
BP headquarters in Houma, La., carefully released information on their efforts and promises to deal with the disaster—although the press or public could not walk into BP headquarters to verify that. Again, to show the relationship between big oil and the government, it was not BP’s private security at the gates of their operations headquaters in Louisiana. It was staffed by the Department of Homeland Security.
Michael Bromwich, head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, is pressuring federal officials for $100 million, not to clean up the Gulf disaster or compensate workers and residents, but to speed up the infrastructure to approve more permits for drilling in the Gulf. Already in mid-March, Anglo-Suisse claimed responsibility for another oil spill, while yet more lip service was given to the need for “federal oversight.”
Workers, residents report chronic health effects
The working and oppressed people of Gulf have another story to tell. Exemplified in one man’s story who lives 100 miles from the coast, a recent report showed that he tested as having higher levels of chemicals from BP’s spill than actual clean-up workers.
Hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic dispersants were pumped into the Gulf at the time.
The health problems resulting from the spill continue to become
apparent while peoples’ pleas for medical care to address the toxic
health affects of the spill continue to be ignored by BP and
government authorities.
Many of the clean-up workers were fishermen and others who became
unemployed during the disaster. These workers lived under appalling
conditions and became exposed to toxic oil and chemicals.
“If I wanted to be in prison, I would
break the law and go to jail,” explained
one clean-up worker when asked to describe the living conditions of
the “floating hotels” set-up by BP.
At one point, these workers carried out a strike to demand better
housing. Most of them are still waiting for compensation for their
claims from BP.
Major health problems are being seen among people exposed to both
the oil and the dispersants used in the cleanup. According to Dr.
Rodney Soto, a Florida physician, both the oil and the dispersants
contain volatile organic compounds that cause an array of negative
health problems. (Al-Jazeera)
According to Soto, between five and seven VOCs have been found in
his patients who also report symptoms and illnesses including
vomiting, kidney damage, lung damage, burning sensations in the nose
and throat, skin irritation and liver damage.
Alabama resident Lloyd Pearcey worked on a BP clean-up team for
four months. He has chemicals from oil and dispersants in his blood,
according to tests conducted by Soto. Pearcey is now battling cancer.
Others who did not work in the cleanup currently have similar
medical complications. Even more troubling, others with toxins
present in their blood today may present symptoms or illnesses later
as a result of the exposure.
As time goes on, there are potentially “tremendous
implications in the human immune system, hormonal function, and brain
function,” according to Soto.
Untold environmental damage
While BP reports that they have completed clean-up efforts in
Mississippi, residents report a strange foamy substance washing up on
shore that could very well be connected to dispersants used.
Yet the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug
Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
state health departments and President Obama have joined the chorus
with BP that the beaches and seafood from the Gulf are safe.
“It’s criminal for the government to tell people to eat the
contaminated seafood, and that it’s alright for people go to our
toxic beaches and swim in the contaminated water,” Dr. Soto
said.
The environmental impact continues to be assessed with alarming
statistics. One report showed that 60 percent of Louisiana coastal
land erosion resulted from the spill. In reality, the extent of the
erosion has not been fully calculated, but could be as much as the
size of the state of Delaware.
The Gulf Coast shoreline is a fragile and complex ecological
system—a system that protects the interior against hurricanes as
well as providing a cycle of food for many different species. Thus,
oil contamination on the coast kills off microscopic algae, a base
food, cutting off nutrients to fish, shrimp, oysters and then larger
species, such as birds, land animals and humans.
Toxic dispersants remain in the Gulf of Mexico. It is clear that
this was a strategy not to clean up the spill, but to conceal it deep
in the sea, impacting deep-sea wildlife for generations to come.
Oil from the BP spill remains stuck on the bottom of the Gulf of
Mexico, according to marine scientist Samantha Joye of the University
of Georgia. She presents evidence that the oil is not degrading as
expected and is killing life on the sea floor.
Her videos and photographs taken deep below the surface show dead
crabs, pale starfish and suffocated tube worms, which are all sea
life key to the larger ecological cycle.
The sea life not only suffered from the oil itself; the fire that
lasted for days produced a tremendous amount of methane and soot that
ultimately will reach the marshes, beaches and barrier islands where
other wildlife nest and breed in the Gulf.
No real compensation for the people of the Gulf
BP has assets of $152 billion. If British Petroleum were a nation
it would rank 35th richest in the world, if its assets were
calculated as gross national product. The Seize BP Campaign demanded
that the assets of British Petroleum be seized by the government—the
only entity that could carry out such an action.
These demands did not place faith in a government at the service
of big oil, but demanded that the funds be placed into a trust that
could quickly and easily assist the people of the Gulf and the
clean-up efforts and be made available as more damages became
uncovered.
This trust would have been administered by the people from the
harmed area. The trustees were to include representatives of the
fishers, shrimpers, crabbers, unions, small business people and
workers in the tourism and recreation industry, local elected
officials, clergy, and independent scientists and environmentalists.
Instead of full compensation for the people of the Gulf or the
people of the Gulf having a say in their futures, Obama made Kenneth
Feinberg trustee for distributing what BP was willing to pay.
Feinberg was previously appointed to hand out the billions of
taxpayers’ money in the bailout for the banks, insurance companies
and their criminal executives. Feinberg holds the purse strings to
the escrow fund rather than the people who are most impacted.
BP has been promoting the idea that the tourist industry in the
Gulf was not affected by the disaster. In fact, many hotels were
booked with clean-up workers and others working on the spill. Yet
hotel and tourist industry representatives report that these visitors
did not come to the Gulf to enjoy the beaches, eat in the restaurants
and participate in one of the largest industries—sport fishing.
Just a month ago, local workers who assisted in the clean-up
efforts and are suffering from poor health and other damages to their
boats filed suit in New Orleans, naming BP and the other co-owners of
Deepwater Horizon as well as the manufacturer of the toxic
dispersants. The suit is seeking compensation for bodily harm and
unpaid wages.
The White House announced a criminal investigation into BP,
Transocean, the well operator contractor, and Halliburton, the second
largest company in the world in oil field services, which cemented
the rig. We know all too well what the result of a White House-led
investigation will be—a slap on the wrist at best.
The oil giants’ drive for profits has resulted in theft of land
from indigenous peoples in Louisiana to peoples of the Middle East,
untold environmental havoc and millions of deaths from wars and
occupations. The BP oil disaster has made all the more clear the need
to continue to build a movement to eradicate the private ownership of
the earth’s resources, so that the people of the planet can plan
and safely extract needed resources without jeopardizing the poorest
now and generations to come.
