BP oil spill 10th anniversary: still unanswered questions concerning Corexit, human and wildlife toll

Ten years ago 11 rig workers lost their lives working on the Deepwater Horizon out in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. Their names were Jason Anderson, Aaron Dale Burkeen, Donald "Duck" Clark, Stephen Ray Curtis, Gordon Jones, Roy Wyatt Kemp, Karl Kleppinger, Keith Blair Manuel, Dewey Revette, Shane Roshto and Adam Weise. I offer my deepest condolences to their families and ask that the public remember them.

They were not the only victims of the BP oil spill.

I reported on the effects of the tragedy for Examiner.com, and was even invited to speak about my coverage at the University of Georgia for "Building Bridges in Crisis" along with reporters from NPR and The New York Times. During my speech that day in January 2011 I spoke about the horrors that occurred, how I had "colored out of the lines" to find sources, including sick Gulf residents and their children. I talked about conference calls with those in charge of the spill, namely Admiral Thad Allen, who told me, "Issues related to offshore drilling and the moratorium ...are really above my pay grade." He said he would leave policy to the policy makers.

I said I was excited to interview biogeochemist Samantha Joye from University of Georgia, under the headline "Academics Help Keep Feds Honest". And in the quest for honesty, I never bought one aspect of the "recovery" and that was the use of Corexit. Shirley Tillman, an activist, took remarkable photos of turtles and bird parts. She was convinced that the foamy water that surrounded these perished wildlife and marine life was evidence that Corexit was still being used in the Gulf long after the feds officially had stated it was occurring.

I am writing this April 20, 2020, during the heat of the greatest catastrophe of my lifetime, Covid-19. Knowing that the coronavirus is especially toxic to the elderly and those with preexisting conditions, it is a natural leap to realize that Corexit, the dispersant banned in England, sickened and even killed individuals along the Gulf. I think of the mother of a young woman I interviewed, 62-year-old Fritzi Presley, a blonde chanteuse from Gulfport, Miss. who very tragically died September 25, 2017. While the official diagnosis was COPD, Presley and her family and friends fought long and hard to prove that Corexit was the culprit. In a video called "Leaving with Grace: A Conversation with Ms Fritzi" Presley, wearing a breathing tube and yet still smiling, explained to the cameraman why she was nearing death. It was not because of COPD, but then, she could not prove her case to the country doctors she'd known all her life. She was kind. She did not blame them. It was clear who she blamed: "“You can’t connect A with C because we have moneyed up B."

Presley grew up in Mississippi, and her heart was in that Gulf. She said she just wanted her family to enjoy the same pleasures she had there, like the "feelin' of the sand stickin' to the backs of your legs when you're runnin' across the beach ...!" It inspired a tear - my mother grew up near the Gulf in South Texas, and I recall fondly frolicking on those shores. That is why, when I heard about the spill, I knew I had to cover it. I also recall exactly how much oil would stick to my feet on a given outing when I was a kid in the 1960s. It is an area rife with deepwater drilling, and yet it never suffered anything as oppressive as the April 2010 disaster: 200 million gallons of crude oil was pumped into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days, making it the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. Finally on July 15, the Macondo well, site of the gusher, was capped. Yet the cost to the Gulf by air dropping Corexit in the preceding weeks was horrific.

By using Corexit, a dispersant banned in the very country where it was made, the UK, the government and BP aggravated the cost to the Gulf. While it made things prettier at the surface, below marine life and above wildlife and humans suffered greatly. In a report by the Government Accountability Project, the truth about Corexit was exposed. They write: "The only so-­‐called advantage of Corexit is the false impression that the oil disappears – in reality, the more toxic chemical mixture spreads throughout the environment, or settles on the seafloor." In 2012 a study from Georgia Tech and Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes in Environmental Pollution showed that Corexit used during the spill had increased the toxicity of the oil by up to 52 times.

In addition to Fritzi Presley, her daughter and her granddaughter Bella, now 6, suffered greatly because of Corexit. Proving this, for whatever reasons, was impossible. Perhaps one need only be reminded of Presley's comment about money. Daughter Daisy Seal, 39, tells me now: "I lived a few blocks away from the beach during the spill. I was on the beach the day of. I had gotten tar all over my feet and nothing would get it off. I finally had to scrub them with gas. I do not go to the beach any more."

Five years ago I wrote about Seal's daughter Bella, who today needs a kidney transplant to save her life, born after her mother suffered innumerable miscarriages. I reported then:

She was born with severe health problems.

"I don't want people to feel sorry for her," the mother says simply, and indeed Bella is a bright and beautiful little girl. But she is underweight, her kidneys haven't worked since birth, Seal says. She has end-stage renal failure and rickets.

It's actually too much for a journalist to even listen to. How can a mother manage?

"She has problems with calcium being too high and it causes her bones to be brittle and for them to twist and not grow properly and her brain not to have a chance to grow like it is supposed to," says Seal. "And her parathyroid hormones might have to be removed because they can't get hormones down."

Seal told me this week via e-mail that, "To this day they still do not know what caused her kidney failure. But she is an awesome kid. She is unable to attend school because of her many medical problems...I am too busy playing nurse and just running everyday errands. We live a few miles from the beach now in an apartment." On a happier note, she has a 17-year-old son, Noah, who will join the Air Force soon, and a four-year-old, Madden, who is healthy apart from ADHD.

It is no accident that in my years of reporting on the spill I covered a Tulane study examining the miscarriages and ill effects on pregnant women following the Gulf disaster. As a reporter I promise to continue following up on studies such as these including studies that look at the impacts of Corexit.

A National Wildlife Federation spokesperson sent me some information including this paragraph from a report they published in 2016, when I asked about Corexit's damage to wildlife and marine life, as opposed to just oil:

"Dispersants May Have Made Things Worse: A National Academy of Sciences study found that chemical dispersants did not accelerate oil biodegradation and may have even suppressed it. A separate Florida State University study found that dispersants were able to eliminate about 21 percent of the oil on the surface of the Gulf, but at the cost of spreading the remaining oil over a 49 percent larger area. As the toxicity of oil often increases when mixed with dispersants, it is likely that the use of dispersants exacerbated the Deepwater Horizon disaster’s impacts on fish and wildlife."

President Obama said in a national address regarding the government and BP's efforts to cap Macondo, in a video Jun 25, 2010,"Stopping it has tested the limits of human technology." And the millions of gallons of oil gushing into the Gulf "were more like an epidemic - one we will be fighting for years."

Tomorrow, the wildlife toll.

PHOTOS: TOP: By Technical Sergeant Adrian Cadiz - US Air Force public affairs story direct link, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10277175; Second - Fritzi Presley and friends John and Cindy; Botton - Daisy and daughter Bella.

To contribute to Bella's health fund, please visit this page.

Eight years ago, the 87-day BP Gulf oil spill had just begun

This year I am not in the Gulf of Mexico or even in America. I'm in the UK, where BP gas stations are ubiquitous and where people don't seem to fathom the enormity of the great environmental disaster that ravaged Louisiana coastal communities, in particular.

It's been eight years today, April 20, since the tragic moment the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and with it, eleven fine men, rig workers from the region, perished. These men were: Jason Anderson, Dale Burkeen, Donald Clark, Stephen Curtis, Gordon Jones, Roy Kemp, Karl Kleppinger, Blair Manuel, Dewey Revette, Shane Roshto, and Adam Weise.

Audubon's David Yarnold released the following statement regarding the tragedy:

”Eight years ago 11 people died in the worst environmental tragedy the U.S. has ever seen. Restoration has just begun in earnest, and the passage of time won’t erase BP’s recklessness. In fact, we’re more concerned than ever about the rollback of laws and regulations that are helping to rebuild the Gulf.

Thanks to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, BP paid $100 million in fines for causing the deaths of one million birds. But we’re alarmed by efforts in Congress and the Department of the Interior to weaken that law, (which) would give BP or others a free pass for killing birds in future spills.

It’s ridiculous to try and make the case after 100 years that this law can’t coexist with best industry practices when we have a century of proof to the contrary.

Audubon will oppose these bird-killing moves—we will engage our 1.2 million members who represent America’s political spectrum. We will bring 113 years of commitment to bird protection to safeguard one of the most important bird conservation laws in America.”

Yarnold points out that over 87 days, 130 million gallons of oil were "dumped into the Gulf of Mexico killing a million birds and other marine life."

Besides the oil that flooded the Gulf, an equally toxic blight, Corexit, sickened those birds, wildlife, marine life (including endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles and dolphins) and notably, humans. Reports of sick children and families, particularly those who worked on the Vessels of Opportunity (cleanup crews run by BP and the U.S. Government) complained of chest pains, rashes, and more.

At meetings in the Gulf following the spill, images by noted photographers such as Mario Tama of Getty were published that show how this dispersant, banned in the very country that makes it (England), affected the workers. Red rashes all up the arms or legs; extreme weakening; breathing difficulties. These were just some of the physical effects the poor people of the Gulf of Mexico had to "prove" in order to get their compensation, and in many cases, some of them were too spent to fight for their rights.

Deepwater drilling continues. Men and women need to make a living. While stricter safety measures have been put in place by BP, how can that ever be enough? Despite environmentalists' and concerned citizens outcry, this appears to be a risk not only the company but the people of the Gulf appear willing to take. Now.

PHOTO: US Coast Guard, Wikimedia Commons Images.

Repost from 2012: Tulane's new studies punctuate ongoing research on women's health after spill

The following article first appeared on Examiner.com, June 20, 2012. Since its publication, Dr. Lichtveld has published papers, which can be read here.The story has been lightly edited.

Today, April 20, is the seventh anniversary of the tragic and massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven men, rig workers, would lose their lives after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig owned by Transocean.

Yet, while the oil spill -- that wasn't shuttered for 87 days -- was horrific enough, the U.S. in concert with BP sprayed the Gulf with nearly 2 million gallons of dispersants, dispersants banned in the very country in which they are manufactured.

This reporter has followed the story from the beginning, including having spoken to numerous individuals who were in the zones most affected.

In the original posting of this story, I ran a picture by Mario Tama of Getty Images, dated April 18, 2011. The headline was "Lorrie Williams of Ocean Springs, MS developed severe health problems from the spill including lung polyps and liver damage. She believes this and her 42-lb weight loss as of Apr 2011 was caused by the dispersants."

While the media might focus on the recovery and how many brown pelicans were cleaned up, the deeper story is that oil is still at the bottom of the gulf and weighing the effects of oil-plus-dispersants is only beginning to show light. Scientists have proven, though, that together the mix is far more toxic than just using oil alone.

In the course of my reporting over the years, I heard then Plaquemines President Billy Nungesser explain how the EPA told them one day there would be no more spraying, only to reverse course and come back again. I heard people I respect tell me again and again that I'd have to wait until papers were published, or that choosing Corexit was the best choice at the time. It kept the oil from coming up on shore. Yes, sort of like hitting you over the head so you faint keeps you from tripping and falling into the pool.

...

Following is my story from 2012, in which I interview a prominent scientist studying the effects of the BP oil spill on women's health:

Dr. Maureen Lichtveld, Tulane's chair of environmental policy, met with this reporter a couple of weeks ago in her Canal Street office to discuss recent grants to her department. Announced June 1, an overarching study of potential health impacts of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on coastal communities is being conducted thanks to $18.7 million from the BP spill settlement, as well as $3.7 million from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation's Fund for the Future of the Gulf, which will facilitate the evaluation of environmental health risks to seafood.

Since last July, though, Lichtveld has already been overseeing a vital three-year project paid for by a $6.5 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. This one explores the potential impacts of the spill on pregnant women and females of reproductive age. Their focus is women living in Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans and Plaquemines parishes.

Lichtveld said:

"Pregnant women are always a population of concern when there are environmental exposures, as the developing fetus may be vulnerable to even small doses of contaminants...To our knowledge, this is also the first study to examine maternal stress and anxiety related to a major oil spill and the associated effects on birth outcomes, fetal health and family-planning behavior.”

Last year's grant created the Transdisciplinary Research Consortium for Gulf Resilience on Women’s Health (or GROWH) at Tulane. It is quantifying potential exposure levels among women to environmental contaminants via seafood consumption and air emissions; studying how disasters affect reproduction choices; and exploring how the relationship between the environment and socioeconomics affect women’s health and pregnancies.

"GROWH will collaborate with vulnerable populations along the Gulf Coast to conduct transdisciplinary, community-based participatory research," the National Institutes for Health said last year.

The consortium also partners with community groups to conduct its research, partnering with communities to design the studies, Lichtveld said. These partners include Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corp., Bayou Interfaith Sharing Community Organizing and Women Infant and Children (WIC) clinics in the affected parishes. Explaining how the school is able to use funds from the first, $18.7 million grant, Lichtveld said, "the school is in a wonderfully neutral position." BP has no involvement in how Tulane manages the money since it was part of their $7.8 billion settlement on the Gulf spill, she said.

Lichtveld, who had the surreal experience of starting at Tulane shortly before Katrina hit, says she is "excited" by her work. This includes a fascinating element of the community study, which will allow her to reach high schools and train students to learn about environmental health. Then these newly environmental medicine-savvy kids will allow the community to "recruit very competively."

Someday, hopefully, these high schoolers will be the new medical professionals in the gulf, able to assess health problems resulting from spills.

### - An earlier version of this report listed the awards in the wrong order. This version is correct.

PHOTO: May 2, 2010 - U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen, then National Incident Commander, and then EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, briefed President Barack Obama about the situation along the Gulf Coast following the BP oil spill at the Coast Guard Venice Center in Venice, La.. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza; Author: USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency