Many of us on Gulf coast have come to believe that our government is complicit with BP to hide the oil with the continued, massive and unprecedented use of the poisonous dispersant Corexit. At the the same time, in an effort to protect the political liability of the Obama administration, various agencies of the government, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have declared the seafood safe. NOAA has lauded the deploying of the "sniff" test as part of the "rigorous protocol" to make sure that seafood is safe. Dr. Wilma Subra, a Louisiana environmentalist, through an independent lab, has had samples of seafood tested that shows otherwise. These seafood samples, according to Subra, had no visible or auditory presence of chemicals, yet these samples tested positive for toxic chemicals. Now we have heard that the U.S. government is serving the U.S. military Gulf seafood in a cynical move to promote the "product" and increase the price and value of Gulf seafood. It has also been proposed that schools and prisons serve Gulf seafood, potentially endangering these vulnerable populations.
A Raw Story article, "Navy Secretary Mabus pushes Pentagon to Feed Soldiers More Gulf Seafood", published on December 8, quotes the dangers of exposure to petrochemicals:
"Once oil enters, it can damage every organ, every system in the body," Dr. Susan Shaw, a marine toxicologist at the Marine Environmental Research Institute, said. "There is no safe level of exposure to this oil, because it contains carcinogens, mutagens that can damage DNA and cause cancer and other chronic health problems. Many people in the Gulf have been exposed for months -- not just workers but residents. There are hundreds of health complaints from local people with symptoms that resemble symptoms of oil exposure.
"It will be years, possibly decades, before we understand the extent and nature of the health effects caused by this spill," she added.
In this same Raw Story article, the concerns of independent scientists on the safety of Gulf seafood are expressed:
Although the federal government has claimed that seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is safe to eat, experts told Raw Story they had serious concerns about the long-term effects of consuming Gulf seafood.
Multiple independent lab tests have found high volumes of crude oil and other harmful hydrocarbons in Gulf shrimp.
"I wouldn't eat shrimp, fish or crab caught in the Gulf," said Robert M. Naman, a chemist at ACT Labs in Mobile, Alabama, conducted a test on Gulf seafood after being contacted by a New Orleans activist. "The problems people will face, health-wise, are something that people don't understand."
A November 10th Raw Story article had previously revealed that independent tests results from several Gulf states show dangerous levels of toxic chemicals associated with the BP oil disaster in Gulf seafood. In addition, for this oil disaster, the FDA raised the allowable levels of hydrocarbons in seafood.
The people of the Gulf coast are having to face down federal agencies charged with protecting the safety of people. On February 10th, Don Kraemer, FDA's Deputy Director in the Office of Food Safety, called into question independent tests of Gulf seafood, labeling these tests "junk science". This statement was made in a recent meeting of Louisiana "seafood industry leaders' and quoted in an article on the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board web site, covering a recent Washington D.C. visit by these same, so-called "seafood industry leaders". The article cited a quote from political consultant James Carville that appears to back the claim of seafood safety.
The same article also appears to support a number of fallacies that have already been widely discredited. For example the article states, "Since then, a peer-reviewed study has confirmed that the dispersant did rapidly biodegrade, except for minimal concentrations that remain in a small patch of ocean. FDA chemists had been right."
Actually, a recent study by Woods Hole Institute revealed that the dispersant is breaking down much more slowly than originally thought:
"But she added, "the dispersant is sticking around," which is worrisome. The chemicals didn't seem to biodegrade the oil and gas as fast as basic chemistry would predict. Her study said the key chemicals in dispersants underwent "negligible or slow rates of biodegradation." Other studies have found that the oil – not the dispersant – broke apart quickly."
Just who, in fact, is citing "junk science"? The Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, is managing a $30 million fund from BP, $10 million to be spent each year for three years, to promote Gulf seafood. In fact, the state of Louisiana has received, so far $218 million for "restoration" efforts and "tourism promotion". As Dr. Wilma Subra has pointed out, we are "restoring" before we have fully assessed the damages. This inherently is rush, junk science that imperiles the population and insures that propaganda and falsehoods will be used to assure folks that all is well.
“I am confident that we will absolutely revitalize Louisiana. I want to invite the entire nation down here to Louisiana to be a part of another great comeback. Book your ticket today. Come fish, come eat and stay a while", says Governor Bobby Jindal.
Fishermen and women on the Gulf coast are caught in an Orwellian situation: while not receiving enough compensation from the BP compensation fund that is being administered by Kenneth Feinberg, they are having to return to a livelihood that is no longer tenable. Emergency payment are usually just $5000, and if the claim is settled with Feinberg, claimants supposedly give up their right to sue. Feinberg has also been ordered by a federal judge to stop declaring he is independent from BP. In fact, BP pays his rather large salary, reported to be $850,000. That same judge recently seized the BP compensation fund in a move that has not received much media attention.
"Barbier wrote that he didn't intend to impede or interfere with Feinberg's ability to process claims, but he charted a whole new course for Feinberg to follow. He ordered Feinberg and the facility to disclose clearly at all times that they act for and on behalf of oil company BP. He ruled that a claim handler must begin any communication by telling a claimant he has the right to consult with an attorney of his own choosing."
The U.S. government is encouraging people to believe the seafood is safe, yet many fishermen refuse to return to work, or refuse to eat their own catch.
At our recent Truthout Forum in New Orleans, Dr. Wilma Subra discussed the latest test result of blood, soil and seafood. The news was not good. The blood levels of residents is showing high levels of the toxic chemicals associated with the oil disaster, as is the soil and seafood. Her office is being flooded with calls from all along the Gulf coast: people are getting sick from exposure to the toxic chemicals, yet there is no U.S. government presence on the ground that is looking after the people and assisting them with their health issues.
Residents of the Gulf coast who worked for BP's Vessel of Opportunity Program are in particular, manifesting serious symptoms of toxic poisoning. Fishing livelihoods destroyed for possibly generations to come, these men and women were recruited by BP to clean up the oil, and in the process, were actively discouraged from utilizing respirators; many were threatened with unemployment if they chose to adequately protect themselves. It wasn't enough that for BP's and the government's criminal negligence this disaster was allowed to happen; now residents working for BP would have to give up their health for the privilege of the government and BP demonstrating that the disaster itself wasn't all that bad.
The Gulf residents are having to fight this battle alone, so far. We went the world to know the truth: the U.S. government has done everything to protect the corporate viability of BP, their own political liability, and the health of the Gulf people and ecosystem figure last in this equation.
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