Gulf of Mexico: Fishermen sick, breathing problems cleaning up gulf oil spill; 'Déjà vu?' (Video)

May 26, 2010 - Some fishermen, hired by BP to clean up the gulf oil spill, say the fouled waters are making them sick; they have experienced nausea, severe headaches, dizziness, and difficulty breathing. BP doesn’t see how they could be getting sick.

Channel 6 WDSU reported that many fishermen are getting sick who are out in the gulf, many of them all day every day working to clean up the spill. Many blame the chemical BP is using to clean up the spill. One fisherman said over the weekend he felt like he was going to die. (Click here for video.)

Gary Burris, a fisherman in coastal Louisiana, has become severely ill from inhaling the fumes. He said he was having difficulties breathing and was "coughing up stuff." He said he woke up Sunday night feeling drugged and disoriented. Burris said, "It was like sniffing gasoline or something. My ears are still popping right now and I'm still coughing up stuff.I feel real weak with tingling."

When Burris went to the doctor he was told his lungs looked like a 3-pack-a-day smoker. Burris says he has never smoked.

The fishermen have been working long hours around fouled waters with oil and dispersant. Louisiana lawmakers called on the federal government to open mobile clinics to treat them.

Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking the agency's help providing medical treatment, especially in the southern region where many fishermen live.

Melancon expected BP to fund the clinics but there has been no response to last week’s request for financial assistance.

One fisherman reported his eyes were burning when a dark substance floated on the water he was laying containment booms. He said within seconds his head started hurting and he became nauseated.

Cleanup workers attended a training class where they were told not to pick up oil-related waste.

But they have not been provided with protective equipment and wore leather boots and regular clothes.

David Michaels, U.S. assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, has pledged that the federal government would ensure workplace safety in a toxic environment.

The warning for oil cleanup workers, coming from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Health and Hospitals, is they "should avoid skin contact, and oral cavity or nasal passage exposure to oil spill products [by] using appropriate clothing, respiratory protection, gloves and boots."

Earlier warnings were issued by the EPA cautioning the oil spilled is harmful to human and animal health.

The EPA has detected petroleum odors strong enough to cause illness 50 miles from the oil leak. The agency's website warns coastal residents: "Some of these chemicals may cause short-lived effects like headache, eye, nose and throat irritation, or nausea."

BP’s response

BP spokesman Graham McEwen said Tuesday he wasn’t aware of any health complaints among cleanup workers. He said the company has taken hundreds of samples of so-called volatile organic carbons, such as benzene, and all the levels were well within federal safety standards.

McEwen said the fishermen trained by the company were not deployed to areas where they would need respirators or breathing apparatus. Those who are laying booms or skimming oil are issued protective coveralls and gloves, he said.

“Déjà vu”

Riki Ott, a marine toxicologist who studied the ’89 Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska had this to say: “Déjà vu.”

"What we saw with Exxon Valdez was a parallel track — sick animals and sick people. Harbor seals were looking like they were drunk and dying … and autopsies showed brain lesions.…What are we exposing these poor fishermen to?" Ott said.

It is believed that not all fishermen are reporting illnesses because they are just glad to have a job. Some of them are unemployed shrimpers and oystermen.

"It’s an unwritten rule, you don't bite the hand that feeds you," said George Barisich, president of the United Commercial Fishermen's Assn. in St. Bernard Parish, who said many fishermen have told him about feeling ill.

Barisich said he won’t risk going out. A crew, working around the Chandeleur Islands where a barrier chain was hit by the slick, told him, “All the birds were walking around like a bunch of zombies," he said.

When he attended a recent meeting he said fishermen complained about illness but got little response from BP. “BP has the opinion that they are not getting sick," he said.

Barisich said the company is not providing respirators because "if they give us that type of equipment then they admit there are health hazards."

It’s hard for the fishermen to prove their illnesses since so many of them are improving once they leave the water. "It becomes a matter of honor," Barisich said. "You left in the morning, you were OK. Out on the water, you've got a pounding headache, throwing up."

The Los Angeles Times reported that George Arnesen was congested and coughing the day after he went shrimping off California Point. His wife, Kindra, 32, made him see a doctor. The 42-year-old was given a shot of antibiotics, an anti-inflammatory and a prescription for three medications.

"My husband's never had a breathing problem in his life," Kindra Arnesen said.

Related:
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Source:
Los Angeles Times
Channel 6 WDSU