permaculture

[SArjuna@aol.com]

ON THE GROUND IN THE GULF - Hour-long conference call held on 8/12/2010. 
(MP3 available from CHE for download: www.healthandenvironment.org)

Michael Lerner, founder of Collaborative for Health and the Environment 
(CHE), was the interviewer and moderator. 

Wilma Subra was interviewed. - Grandmother, chemist, environmental 
scientist, activist in New Liberia, Louisiana.   She has helped hundreds of 
low-income community groups in Gulf Coast regarding exposure to toxins, 
chaired Gulf 
Coast Hurricane Working Group.   She is “Tony Hayward's worst nightmare” 
reports UK newspaper, The Guardian. 

My husband   and I listened to the call, and he took the following notes, 
getting as much of the content as he could.   I've added some more, in 
brackets.   The call was a full hour long, so you can see that this is more 
of an 
outline than the details covered.

Summary: 4/20 DWH oil rig exploded and burned. Little info for 24 hours. 
Didn't know much about the workers.   They were not allowed to call their 
families.
4/22 Earth Day - DWH sank to bottom of Gulf. Large amounts of oil started 
coming to surface. 50 miles from mouth of M River.   Not a “leak.”   It 
gushed.

172 million gallons released into environment in 87 days. Best estimate. 
Corexit used on surface and at wellhead. 1.8 million gals used to disperse LA 
sweet crude. 1/97 ratio of dispersant to oil. Oil is toxic. Dispersant is 
very toxic. Add the two and you get a multiple x 100. Total destruction of 
estuaries in Gulf.

We are moving into phase where BP is pulling back, saying all the oil is 
gone, etc. Looks like BP is not going to go forward with their promise to 
clean up environment and make right the mess.

ML Q: You ID'ed a number of groups hard hit. What about fishermen?

WS: Fishing communities here for generations (LA, MS, AL, FL). Immediately 
after the spill, fishing grounds were closed down - communities faced with 
no source of income. Was going to be best fishing year since hurricanes of 
2005 and 2008. They went to BP and asked for work. As a result, they became 
very ill from crude oil and dispersants: headaches, nausea, sore throats, 
etc. 
They were told if they complained they would lose their jobs. Were also 
told if they wore respirators they'd be fired. [She had much more to say 
about 
the ways people have been affected.   People as far as 100   miles away.]

ML Q: Have you been down there?

WS: Yes - I've met with them, explained health impact of crude and 
dispersants. They say but this is the only way we can pay our bills. One 
particular 
community: Grand Bayou - a Native American community along the M River. They 
say how their grandfathers and great grandfathers made a living here. They 
say they have been made so sick it's difficult for them to go to work, but 
they have no choice - BP is their only hope to feed families and pay bills.

ML Q: Concern for other clean-up workers?

WS: A lot of the workers go out to pull in boom soaked with oil, with their 
bare hands. Shrimpers are trawling for boom, bringing it into boats, 
slipping on it, when they come in at night, material is removed and bagged, 
but 
they are told not to clean boats because that would contaminate the harbors. 
Workers nearest wellhead get sprayed with dispersant, although BP says they 
are not spraying when they see workers or dolphins.

Health impact: see tape - nervous system damage, kidneys, red blood cells, 
repro system, cardio, etc. [A very long list.] This is now a chronic 
exposure, not just acute. These workers will have health effects for the rest 
of 
their lives.

Effect on broader communities: Oil slick was turned into aerosol mixed with 
dispersant. It caused headaches, nausea, respiratory problems, sore throat, 
etc. from New Liberia, LA across LA, MS AL and into FL. People faced with 
decision to stay and work or take families - especially babies - out of the 
area.

Mood of Gulf Coast communities: Dr. Subra has been deeply engaged with 
these communities for decades. Compared with other disasters, how does the BP 
disaster rank?

NS: BP spill is much worse than even Katrina. People will tell you when you 
have a hurricane, you come back and move forward. Here, every day there 
were events piled on others. Communities felt hurt at first, then were very 
mad 
about shortcuts taken by BP. Now that well is capped and BP is pulling out, 
mental health of the communities is very poor - a number of suicides 
already. Claim process is devastating - people are at a low point, they have 
lost 
everything.

Attitude toward oil drilling moratorium?

WS: People who work in industry are totally against the moratorium. Elected 
officials are opposed to it. But when you go into the communities, it's a 
different story. Fishermen and families also work for oil companies. These 
people say we don't need the moratorium because we need the jobs. People who 
are injured are speaking out against the moratorium.

Q: You have a balanced view of this area. If it were up to you would you 
sustain the moratorium?

WS: Tough choice. Either way, a lot of people will be injured. Look at the 
excessive damage caused by the oil & gas industry. Fishing communities have 
lost a lot of their fishing areas to the o/g industry, but the rest of the 
U.S depends on it. Huge percentage of o/g comes through this region. [It was 
mentioned that some see this area as a “sacrifice area” for the rest of the 
country.]

Q: Natural gas - a lot of that emerged from the BP well as well - impact of 
that?

WS: NG is the second largest greenhouse gas next to CO2. Huge amounts were 
released.into the air until they began burning it off. That was never 
brought up - never an issue, but it had a huge impact. Also aerosol of 
dispersant/oil was transported into Midwest and caused a lot of crop damage.

Q: What about efforts of community groups and non-profits in the Gulf?

WS: The non-profits already established there did workshops to present 
accurate info to residents. Those are continuing - people need the info so 
they 
can make a difference. Minority communities have been impacted heavily, they 
need info. A lot of national groups have contacted President and EPA with 
info from the Gulf communities. Food stamps and food have been provided to 
local fishermen. Also groups are getting medical and mental health care to 
communities.

Q: Southern Mutual Health Associates?

WS: Formed 45 years ago to help people rebuild their houses after 
hurricanes, and now the spill. They have tried to set up coops for fishermen 
and 
markets to sell their seafood. They are a great resource.

Q: Impact on your life?

WS: My son is a chef - he's been cooking for workers, etc. He had to go to 
Galveston to buy oysters - oyster beds were destroyed by oil and by 
freshwater diversions that pushed oil out of area. You can't buy seafood in 
many 
places. There is a monitoring program to make sure what LA seafood sold is 
safe.

Q: LT impact?

WS: It will start with damage to estuaries and aquatic organisms, all the 
way down to benthic [beneficent?] organisms. The oil will start to 
bioaccumulate and work up the food chain. Seafood will come back, but will 
come back 
contaminated. A host of chemicals and other contaminants will be there for 
generations.

Q/A WITH PARTICIPANTS:

Q: Put this incident into perspective - is it business as usual down there?

WS: It's business as usual. Spills occur all the time, but there was a 
total lack of following guidelines by BP.

Q: From MS Vietnamese fishing community - Very frustrated by premature 
opening of water to shrimping. There's not much catch. Have never seen such a 
small amount of shrimp. Concern over what is happening to shrimp and fish. 
Also re: oil. Press releases saying there is no oil. (also two blog Qs on 
same 
issue) Who's testing, who's opening the area to fishing?

WS: We're looking into that. Normally, there is agreement on what areas to 
open/close. We will have info on that shortly. Agencies are making decisions 
on what catches are suitable for sale. Two decisions: Fishing grounds open? 
Seafood safe?

Q: Kaitlin again re: Corexit dispersant.

WS: There are others that are less toxic. This was one of few of sufficient 
supply. We have heard dispersants are still being sprayed, even though EPA 
says spraying stopped in July.

Q: Theo Colburn, highly respected toxicologist, co-author of Our Stolen 
Future, also an expert on endocrine disruption.
 Wildlife guys are claiming a lot of dead animals being taken inland, 
burned, buried? 

WS: Yes - I have heard that. Wildlife officials are monitoring birds on 
hatchery islands. Also heard dolphins are being slaughtered. Garbage trucks 
carrying away dead birds.

Theo: Very concerned about long-term impact of contaminants. A lot of wells 
are not being maintained and we could see more of these spills.

Q: Moratorium?

WS: Deepwater drilling only.

Q: Health effects - clarification on health effects. What are standards for 
declaring seafood safe? What about microorganisms being able to 
beneficially digest the crude so it is no longer a health hazard?

WS: Micro-orgnisms -they are planning to use them a lot in wetlands, but 
what happens when they have cleaned up the oil? Will they become invasive 
species? [Will they themselves be toxic?] Re: testing seafood - we are 
pushing 
for answers on that question.

Q: Is there a panel of tests that can be used?

WS: Yes - she names some chemicals and tests.

Q: Biomonitoring humans?

WS: Some fishermen are having their blood tested for contaminants.

Q: Legal binding agreement that protects info from being used?

Q: Anything you want to leave us with?

WS: Consider supporting encouraging or supporting medical monitoring, 
mental health support, etc. Gulf Coast Fund is supporting medical services. 
This 
will be a very long ordeal - anything you can do to support the volunteers 
and communities would be appreciated. We're in it for the long haul.