Another slap on the wrist for big polluter BP

by DWG

Industrial serial killer BP knows well the benefits of lax regulation and laughable penalties for breaking the law. Yesterday, they received another wag of the finger for repeatedly endangering the health of thousands of Americans.

The crimes:

... two fires that occurred at the refinery on March 30, 2004 and July 28, 2005, and a leak that occurred on August 10, 2005. During the three incidents, each of which resulted in the surrounding Texas City community to shelter-in-place, thousands of pounds of flammable and toxic air pollutants were released. The settlement also resolves allegations that BP failed to identify all regulated hazardous air pollutants used at the refinery in plans submitted to EPA.

The punishment:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Justice Department announced today that BP Products North America Inc. has agreed to pay a $15 million penalty to resolve federal Clean Air Act violations at its Texas City, Texas petroleum refinery.

continued at Daily Kos....

Corporate States on the Gulf of Mexico

by scorpiorising

Glenn Ford with Black Agenda couldn't have made it any clearer: leaving BP in charge of the oil spill response, and make no mistake, they are in charge, despite Coast Guard declarations to the contrary, has left the four gulf states, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, an enforced, corporate state in the midst of a major catastrophe. Creating and finding ways to fight back are key here. Let's consider the implications:

continued at Daily Kos....

Oilwellian

by good grief

Watching the BP oil disaster unfold, lurking in the back of my mind has been a disturbing realization that the American people have few options for trustable protection -- from corporations or from our elected government -- when it comes to something like health safety after exposure to the toxic mixture of oil, methane and Corexit and its vapors, at sea, in the wetlands or on the beach. When one drills down, as it were, one finds a curious disingenuousness that can be described as, well, Oilwellian.

Who can we trust?

Let's start with the NYTimes 6-18-10 report that BP's toxic testing firm, the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health (CTEH), had a questionable record in prior chemical exposures before it became BP's main source of testing on health effects after the Mocando blowout disaster:

After a million gallons of oil spilled on a Louisiana town in 2005, after a flood of toxic coal ash smothered central Tennessee in 2008 and after defective Chinese drywall began plaguing Florida homeowners, the same firm [CTEH] was on the scene -- saying everything was fine.

continued at Daily Kos....

OSHA Says Workers Don't Need Protection In Gulf Spill

by slinkerwink

This is infuriating to read, given the news reports about workers feeling ill in the clean-up of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. There are more stories like these coming out about workers getting ill, and about BP not providing them protective wear and respirators. Apparently OSHA says that these workers don't need respirators in the clean-up of the oil spill: David Michaels, assistant secretary for the Department of Labor's OSHA, said in an interview Thursday that based on test results so far, cleanup workers are receiving "minimal" exposure to airborne toxins. OSHA will require that BP provide certain protective clothing, but not respirators. For more on this developing situation, please read what environmental advocates such as Albert Huang and others have to say about the need for workers to have protection from respiratory problems in dealing with potentially dangerous inhalants.

continued at Daily Kos....