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  • From: SArjuna@aol.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] On the ground in the Gulf: interview with Dr. Wilma Subra
  • Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 22:14:34 EDT

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.







  • [permaculture] On the ground in the Gulf: interview with Dr. Wilma Subra, SArjuna, 08/14/2010

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