Chemical Soup
Last night I attended a presentation by four scientists on air quality issues related to the BP Gulf Oil Crisis. What I learned supported my concerns about breathing safety on the beaches.
Crude oil has several toxic chemicals in it. For example, benzene is one of the major toxins in this nasty soup washing up on shore. It causes cancer, endocrine disruption and at lesser exposure causes headaches, nausea, eye, nose and throat irritation (I have had those symptoms more than once while documenting the crisis). The problem is the EPA is measuring air quality from buses that sample air from roadways. Workers and people recreating are on the beach, over the oil and the smell is infinitely stronger while in direct contact with the crude. Why isn’t the EPA measuring air quality beside cleanup workers? This issue was raised weeks ago by women in Louisiana who complained of this practice.
In a media release from JIC (Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center) they discourage the use of respirators in cleanup workers. From Valdez we learned that exposure to cleanup workers caused COPD, cancer and many have died since working in that disaster. As I read the information I felt like I was on a circus ride. I have seen workers on the beaches with bandanas over their nose and mouths due to the smell and the fact that they are feeling ill effects of toxic chemicals in the air. Why aren’t they given respirators? I mean….the REAL reason. Perhaps the tourists wouldn’t go to the beaches if respirators were added to the safety gear of workers…hmmm?
Yesterday I once again witnessed people swimming in waters polluted with oil. And it is obviously polluted. There is sheen, smell and oil washing ashore. A father had his two or three year old daughter in the water and I wanted to scream…it’s toxic soup!
I attended the Orange Beach, Alabama, weekly town hall meeting Wednesday and the mayor was asked why people are still being allowed to swim in Gulf waters. He said they’ve posted double red flags and “there is no law against stupid.” But I say to the mayor and others concerned about declining tourist dollars that you OWE it to the public to post signs along the beaches in front of condos saying that the waters are closed. The flags mean nothing to most people. I am witnessing children being contaminated and it is mind-boggling.
The mayor also said that sea turtles were keeping the beach machines from doing their nightly cleanup and that was hurting tourism. No kidding. The feds, he said, were hampering cleanup efforts because they were protecting endangered sea turtles. Can he and others not see that a big reason we are in such a mess is because humans have not been good stewards? We have lived out of balance for so long…ignoring nature, putting it down on our priority list in an effort to make more money…our greed and arrogance is creating the downfall.
If the environment–if nature–breaks down, we are dead. It is that simple. All the money in the world won’t save us from our own insanity.