I start my Saturdays listening to The House on CBC and my Sundays listening to the Sunday Edition on CBC. I’m more interested in my Saturday mornings normally, but this Sunday was interesting.
Dr. Riki Ott, a marine toxicologist, just happened to be living in Cordova, Alaska at the time of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. What are the chances of that? Rather inopportune for Exxon and now for BP.
She spoke this morning about the long term effects on the people who cleaned up the Exxon Valdez spill and is warning that the same process is unfolding in Louisiana. Have we learned nothing from past oil spills? It would seem that our governments and oil companies haven’t.
Dr. Riki Ott’s interview is in Hour One. It’s just under 28 minutes long and worth every minute.
She’s also written a couple of books on the Exxon Valdez oil spill: Sound Truth and Corporate Myths – The legacy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and Not One Drop – Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez oil Spill.
Related posts:
5 comments
Think-Buzz.com says:
May 30, 2010
Powell EXCLUSIVE: ‘Decisive Force’ and ‘Comprehensive Total Attack’ Needed for Oil Spill Response…
The federal government’s response to the BP oil spill “has to move quickly and move with — to use my favorite expression — decisive force to demonstrate that it’s doing everything that it can,” former Secretary of State Colin Powell told ABC News…
Adriel Hampton says:
May 30, 2010
This is not good. First Exxon Valdez, then health impacts on the World Trade Center cleanup folks. God, let’s not do it again.
Alain Saffel says:
May 30, 2010
I’d like to think we can learn from our mistakes, and it seems that many can, but government and big business seem not to care sometimes. Money talks.
Merle Savage says:
May 31, 2010
Article from Las Vegas Review Journal:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/exxon-valdez-oil-risks-spur-warning-for-gulf-cleanup-crews-93258964.html
The workers who are cleaning up the oil in the Gulf need to be aware of the chemicals that will be used. I am one of the 11,000+ cleanup workers from the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS), who is suffering from health issues from that toxic cleanup, without compensation from Exxon.
My name is Merle Savage; a female general foreman during the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) beach cleanup in 1989, which turned into 21 years of extensive health deterioration for me, and many other workers. Dr. Riki Ott visited me in 2007 to explain about the toxic spraying on the beaches. She also informed me that Exxon’s medical records and the reports that surfaced in litigation by sick workers in 1994, had been sealed from the public, making it impossible to hold Exxon responsible for their actions.
http://www.rikiott.com
Exxon developed the toxic spraying; OSHA, the Coast Guard, and the state of Alaska authorized the procedure; VECO and other Exxon contractors implemented it. Beach crews breathed in crude oil that splashed off the rocks and into the air — the toxic exposure turned into chronic breathing conditions and central nervous system problems, along with other massive health issues. Some of the illnesses include neurological impairment, chronic respiratory disease, leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, liver damage, and blood disease.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5632208859935499100
My web site is devoted to searching for EVOS cleanup workers who were exposed to the toxic spraying, and are suffering from the same illnesses that I have. Our summer employment turned into a death sentence for many — and a life of unending medical conditions for the rest of us – Exxon’s Collateral Damaged.
http://www.silenceinthesound.com/stories.shtml
Alain Saffel says:
Jun 1, 2010
Merle, I really appreciate your input here. It’s a shame we have to keep making the same mistakes. I’m glad people like you and Riki are out there telling your story.
Hopefully the same things that happened to you and other Exxon Valdex spill cleanup workers won’t happen to the workers on the BP Gulf of Mexico cleanup. Early indications are that the same thing is happening.
You’d think the government would ensure that this didn’t happen again, but they knew about the Ixtoc catastrophe in the Gulf but didn’t seem to learn from it.
Thank you.