About 120,000 trailers with such high levels of formaldehyde that the government banned them from ever being used for long-term housing after Katrina are now on there way to the Gulf again. Cheap housing is needed for the growing number of cleanup personnel needed in the Gulf. Several cleanup contractors hired by BP have purchased trailers at bargain-basement rates. Why bring these formaldehyde soaked trailers? Buddy Fuzzell, an executive with one of those contractors, Cahaba Disaster Recovery, succinctly explained the appeal of the trailers: “The price was right.”
Endangering workers lives to pad the bottom line-hummmmm such a familiar theme.
Hang safety and concern for life and health.
Health Risks Dangers
Formaldehyde poses a number of health problems if inhaled at a high concentration at close range. It can cause nasal cancer and advanced respiratory problems, and has been linked to some forms of leukemia.
Many housing materials contain some quantity of formaldehyde, but the cheap wood that the feds used to construct the trailers contained dramatically higher levels of formaldehyde.
The acute effects of formaldehyde exposure include soreness and rawness to the eyes, the nose, the throat and skin rashes that can cause scarring. Other complications can include coughing and some trouble breathing may also be present until the individual is removed from the area where the formaldehyde is in use. However, as exprosure continues the respiratory may be impaired causing pain when breathing.and eventual development of lesions in and possible permanent lung damage.
From prolonged exposure to formaldehyde the incidence of lung and nose cancer appears to be significantly higher among people who regularly come in contact with formaldehyde. This has led many countries to establish guidelines that set what is considered a maximum amount of exposure on a daily basis.
In some cases, formaldehyde exposure can lead to death. Professionals who make use of the substance as part of their work often wear protective clothing, including breathing masks, in order to safeguard against this possibility. Installing air qualitydevices in these toxic trailers might help these workers know when unsafe levels of formaldehyde emissions may be present and airing the space maybe in order.
The gift of these trailers reminds me of the witch’s apple to Snow White in the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Resources
Help is being offered from many countries and the US is accepting assistance from 12 countries to date. Only Mexico and the International Maritime Organization and the Monitoring and Information Center has offered assistance without expecting remuneration.
More than 30 countries and international organizations have offered to help with the spill.Most of the countries and groups have offered skimmers, boom or dispersant chemicals, according to a chart on the State Department’s website. From mid May Mexico, Norway and Brazil have been hard as work helping the US.
To date there were 24 foreign vessels working in the Gulf as part of the clean up team. Nine countries had provided boom, skimmers and other assistance.
The International Maritime Organization and the Monitoring and Information Center, run by the European Commission are offering technical assistance. Mexico, Norway, Holland and Japan are providing skimmers; Canada is providing containment boom; and Croatia is pitching in with technical advice.
With the possibility that these BP contaminants could effect all the oceans of the world endangering all life, it would be wise for everyone to pitch in to solve this potential international crisis.
An underwater tour of the Gulf of Mexico by submarine and scuba, highlighting the vast diversity of marine life throughout the Gulf, from the surface to depths of nearly 2,000 feet. The tour begins in the northern Gulf, tracks south along the west Florida shelf, to northwestern Cuba and finally west to Veracruz, Mexico. This video was produced for the opening ceremony of the first “State of the Gulf of Mexico Summit” held in 2006 in Corpus Christi, Texas.
This video was also shown at the May 19, 2010 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, “Deepwater Horizon: Oil Spill Prevention and Response Measures, and Natural Resource Impacts” as part of the testimony of Dr. Sylvia A. Earle.
Chair and Program Coordinator, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies and a marine biologist Sylvia Earle has been an explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society since 1998. Named “Time” magazine’s first “hero for the planet” in 1998, Earle has pioneered research on marine ecosystems and has led more than 50 expeditions totaling more than 6,000 hours underwater. She was the former chief scientist for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Resource
Video courtesy of YOUTUBE.com/1planet1ocean
There can be many challenging years ahead for the health of volunteers and contract workers and the people of the Gulf coastal areas due to excess exposure to oil, dangerous dispersant and methane from the BP gusher. The greater the exposure the greater the risk with each passing day working and breathing the muck. Air born oil toxins pose a possible health risk for individuals living in and around the affected area. Most susceptible are the workers and volunteers, the very young, the elderly and those who suffer from asthma. Man can be an endangered species in the Gulf area.
Take these precautions Avoid exposure as much as possible. If you live in an area where an oil spill has recently occurred, keep your windows and doors tightly closed to avoid outdoor air from entering your home. Purchasing and using an air purifier will help dispose of dangerous chemicals within the air. Make sure that the air purifier you choose comes equipped with a UV light to also kill harmful bacteria. Purchase a simple surgical mask and wear it when you leave the house and when you are driving in your car. It won’t prevent you from inhaling airborne petrochemicals, it will reduce your overall exposure.
Avoid contaminated beaches at all costs. Although it may be tempted to see the level of destruction, directly exposing yourself to drying oil puts your health at risk.
Avoid seafood from contaminated areas.
If you happen to come into direct contact with oil, wash it off immediately. Do not bring oil-contaminated objects or clothing into your home.
**One of the long term effects to humans is the inability to heal bones and other tissues due to petrochemicals and methane poisoning . A toxic pollutant spread by oil spills, forest fires and car exhaust is also present in cigarette smoke, and may represent a second way in which smoking delays bone healing, according to research presented today at the annual meeting of the Orthopedic Research Society in San Francisco in 2005.
Workers are sacrificing their lives for the area’s economic survival. The worst case scenario: If an entire area is deemed a disaster area from total contamination, there might have to evacuate and relocated
the population due to petroleum poisoning from contaminated air, rain, gulf water, seafood wildlife and estuaries.
An aside: Did you realize?
Humans are exposed to petrochemical toxins on a daily basis. These toxins permeate the air we breathe
Petrochemicals are used to make insecticides lethal. They are eaten when humans eat non-organic fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables must be washed with soap and water before eating or cooking to make them safer before being ingested.
Maybe it is time to clean up our act and eliminate the excess use of petrochemicals that pervade our lives.
Support green sustainable energies. Resources
Excerpts courtesy of http://bit.ly/cH5YYh
ON May 17, 2010 the Texas Land Office and Texas Water Commission successfully used ‘oil eating’ microbes to clean up large oil spills on land or in the water in just weeks. Bacteria hunt down and eat the toxic oil and leave only a biodegradable waste that is non-toxic to humans and marine life.
Applied as a dry powder blend of stabilized bacterial spores and micro-nutrients formulated for use in the degradation of petroleum based hydrocarbons. Remediation of marshland and beaches were pristine again in just weeks. Could this help save the Gulf of Mexico?
The video shows a possible way to safely clean up and restore the oil-polluted ocean, wetlands and sea-shores back within weeks instead of years
.
Remind me why we are not using these hair booms with the oil flooding the Gulf?
Check out this experiment in the video showing the absorption of oil by conventional booms and the hair boom.
We could hold cut-a-thons across the US thousands would gladly donate to this worthy cause.
With dead dolphins washing on shore time to act.
Sea Shepherd announces campaign to save marine wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico
The British Petroleum (BP) deep-sea oil breach in the Gulf of Mexico is turning into the largest and most destructive oil spill in history. It is a priority emergency and a massive assault on a major marine ecosystem. While BP may be morally and legally responsible for causing this disaster, it is impractical and unwise to leave the rescue of all marine life in the Gulf to a private corporation. We all need to come together to address this, and we need to do it quickly.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is calling upon all able organizations to join us in sending vessels with trained crew to support large-scale efforts in the Gulf of Mexico to rescue oiled sea birds, turtles, and other marine species. Together we have the resources, skills, experience, and passion to make a huge difference in the number of lives and species that can be saved from this disastrous oil spill. We can provide the offshore facilities needed to complement onshore rescue efforts for the finding, capture, treatment, and transport of marine animals viable for rescue.
“Sea Shepherd and other organizations have ships,” said Captain Paul Watson. “These groups, as well as governments and corporations, have resources. We need to mobilize these resources now. This is going to be a long, dirty, and fatiguing process, but we must act, and we must act now
Our ships and dedicated volunteers have accomplished amazing feats through the years, but this disaster in the Gulf needs more than we alone can give. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is appealing for cooperation and assistance from additional nonprofit organizations, governments, corporations, and all concerned individuals. While we will work with the U.S. Government and BP to support their efforts, we are also appealing to them for help with coordinating equipment, qualified personnel, and onshore facilities to complement our offshore work, and to help expedite appropriate clearances for us and other organizations who can bring unique and truly helpful expertise and equipment to help with these rescue efforts.
Sea Shepherd welcomes donations from the public for our “Gulf Rescue Campaign” to help us rescue and protect marine wildlife and habitats. Charity Navigator has recognized Sea Shepherd with a 4-star rating indicating that it is amongst the best nonprofits when it comes to responsible fiscal management and effective use of funds for campaigns.
The once beautiful rare sea turtle is covered in the Gulf of Mexico’s oil. this one is one of the lucky ones that survived to find the caring hands of a wildlife team. It was forced to fight its way through miles and miles of toxic oil. The nesting season for threatened and endangered sea turtles has just begun. The oil has made its way to the loop current that can take it has far as the east coast where the southern migration of the sea turtles from New England to the Caribbean is underway.
These turtles are precious, and Defenders of Wildlife and its consorioum going to go to court to court to save them.
For years, the federal government has been issuing “categorical exclusions” to help fast-track oil and gas exploration and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico – effectively priming the pump for the massive oil slick now jeopardizing the survival of threatened and endangered sea turtles and other wildlife.
Just last week, Defenders of Wildlife and their associate groups called on the Senate to pass legislation to address climate change and the sea level rise that threatens to devastate sea turtle nesting ground without providing incentives for more dangerous offshore drilling.
On Monday May 17, Defenders filed suit in federal court to stop the federal government’s continued use of these “categorical exclusions” and demand an end to the cavalier disregard for the disastrous impact that offshore drilling and exploration can have on sea turtles and other imperiled species.
Thank you for your caring and generous contribution.
Kemp’s ridley and loggerhead sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico are just now beginning to nest on the beaches where they lay their eggs each year. These and other endangered sea turtles are found throughout the coastal and offshore waters of the Gulf.
Never in the history of modern man have those that care about nature and the environment had to watch with little to do, but visualized Mother Nature miraculously healing the wound in its sea floor dress. Those that can be close are risking their own lifes to save those larger creatures covered
Tub scrub for oiled bird
in oil. Countless numbers of sea creatures dolphins, porpoises, turtles, sea birds, shrimp, crab, fish, coral and mollusks will not reach the caring hands of the skilled volunteers that are tirelessly struggling against all odds to save a few of the trillions of living things affected by this gusher.
At least from the Exxon Valdez crisis, the oil was from just one tanker, but Alaska is still cleaning up globs of oil from that disaster on their shores.
Black columns or plumes of oil have forced themselves out from the gusher.
They rise up for 10 miles in length below the visible slick in the Gulf of Mexico. (See video)
Some success! BP for the first time in 25 days
In a major step toward containing a massive Gulf of Mexico oil leak, BP said a mile-long tube was funneling crude Sunday from a blown well to a tanker ship after three days of wrestling to get the stopgap measure into place on the seafloor.
The contraption was hooked up successfully and sucking oil from a pipe at the blown well Sunday afternoon after being hindered by several setbacks.
Engineers remotely steering robot submersibles were trying again Sunday to fit the riser insertion tube into a breach nearly a mile below the surface, BP said.
Several cleanup contractors hired by BP have purchased trailers at bargain-basement rates. Why bring these formaldehyde soaked trailers? Buddy Fuzzell, an executive with one of those contractors, Cahaba Disaster Recovery, succinctly explained the appeal of the trailers: “The price was right.”
Nature's Crusaders 
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