History is about to repeat itself. The British Petroleum (BP) oil spill may affect the cleanup workers in much the same way the Exxon Valdez workers were affected almost 20 years ago.
Two decades ago, workers helped clean up the rocky shores of Prince William Sound after the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground, producing what was then the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
According to one reliable source Exxon never "studied what this oil was doing to the workers -- to the human beings in Prince William Sound." A source close to the Exxon litigation warns
history may be repeating itself thousands of miles away in the Gulf of Mexico, with evidence of workers getting sick, and their medical records being controlled by BP.
Today, 11-week-old disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has surpassed the Exxon spill. Workers are still affected. Some struggle to breathe. Coughs, eye conditions and other respiratory problems are some of the conditions workers from the Exxon Valdez have.
Roy Dalthorp told CNN, "that he was 'slowly poisoned' during the Alaska cleanup effort -- and he says some of those now working to clean up the BP spill off Louisiana and neighboring states are risking the same fate," according to a recent CNN report.
Of the summaries of the Exxon health records of 11,000 cleanup workers, 6,722 of them had gotten sick.
It is reported by CNN that "BP says it is working with federal health and environmental regulators to make sure cleanup workers are protected from the hazards of the Gulf spill. But CNN reported examiners of the Exxon Valdez spill "said cleanup workers in the Gulf are showing 'the exact identical symptoms down here that we had 21 years ago.'"
Recently, in the BP oil spill, Louisiana's state health department reported 128 cleanup workers believed to have been sickened by exposure to oil by the end of June, with symptoms like dizziness, nausea and breathing issues. On a video provided to CNN by a state health official, one hospitalized fisherman says that "a lot of the other guys" had the same complaints.
If you or someone you know has worked on the Gulf Coast cleanup efforts, please contact classaction.com. Even if you are not suffering any symptoms now, it is important to join forces and gather information for potential problems in the future. Any information you have about the cleanup as a worker can help. Please contact us.
