public health

According to a new report, the petrochemical industry in Louisiana averaged one accident per day in 2010.  Here are three stories from that report, written by people who have seen the impacts of oil industry accidents firsthand -- two community leaders who live next to refineries, and one refinery worker.

Velma White, Shreveport [...Read more]

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Less than a week ago, I came home to the Gulf Coast after a trip to Washington DC (where I joined a group of Gulf Coast residents in protesting the Keystone XL pipeline and BP "Claims Czar" Kenneth Feinberg).  Since coming back, here is what I've seen and heard: I have seen photos of a 7-year-old with a rash all over her body - whose mother is fearful we will lose her if she is not help [...Read more]

Dear BP and Mr. President,  My name is Laurie.  I’m a 38-year-old resident of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I love this place. It has been my home my entire life, and home to most of my memories – both good and bad. I was born in Louisiana and lived in Gretna, LA until I was about 4 years old. My family built a home here in Bay St. [...Read more]

(Houston, TX) Today, public health groups blasted ExxonMobil Chemical Company for blocking new restrictions on toxic chemicals that damage children’s health and pollute local communities.  

Outside its corporate headquarters, protesters unveiled a giant twenty-foot rubber ducky, a favorite bath toy often made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which contains toxic chemicals known as phthalates (pronounced ‘THA-lates’), which are produced by ExxonMobil at its Baton Rouge, LA factory.

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Crossposted from Facing South. [...Read more]

Residents and clean-up workers exposed to the 2010 BP Oil Spill Catastrophe may experience adverse health affects for many years to come, according to a recently released review. 
 “The Adverse Health Effects of Oil Spills: A Review of the Literature and a Framework for Medically Evaluating Exposed Individuals,” written by Barry S. Levy and William J. Nassetta, analyzed 13 studies of health effects among clean-up workers and community residents exposed to past spills.
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As oil, sickness and contamination persist, Gulf residents and lawyers file thousands of lawsuits against the oil giant. [...Read more]

Lax regulations on chemicals put everyone at risk.
A fast-moving, "out of control" fire erupted at the Magnablend Chemical Company in Waxahachie, Texas, this afternoon. The fire has forced the evacuation of at least one elementary school in this Dallas suburb, and the nearby Navarro College, according to news reports.  Residents have been advised to stay indoors to avoid dangerous gasses. [...Read more]

I never was one to rock the boat.  I'm a sailor, for goodness sakes.  I would take off from the harbor at daybreak sometimes an' barely beat sundown coming in. I've sailed like that, since i was seven, for 50 years. [...Read more]