Who Will Hold BP Liable?

24-7 - The Ultimate Losses

No one lost more than those 11 workers who died on April 20 in the massive explosion that engulfed the offshore oil rig in flames and sent it into the then-blue water of the Gulf. Their loss of life has been largely overlooked in the nonstop media coverage that has followed in the weeks since the catastrophe. The workers who suffered severe injuries in the explosion have likewise been ignored.

One day those survivors and those who were injured will have their day in court, however, and liability and compensation for their losses will be determined. Who will be held liable? BP has already to some extent admitted liability in the event by paying out minor sums to fishermen and other business owners and workers who have lost income because of the oil spill.

Two other companies may well share liability in the Deepwater incident: Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig (Transocean leased the rig to BP) and Halliburton, the company that was responsible for the cement casing that was supposed to cap the well.

Injuries Incurred Since the Explosion

As part of the efforts to prevent the enormous swaths of oil from the leak from hitting the Gulf coast, BP has hired shrimpers, commercial fishermen and others with boats to deploy booms and devices to soak up some of the oil.

Though the efforts have had decidedly mixed results, there's no denying that some of the workers hired by BP have suffered a variety of symptoms due to their prolonged (and in some cases, unprotected) exposure to toxic fumes, oil particles and powerful chemical dispersants used to break up the oil.

A CBS News report aired nationally showed Gulf coast workers reporting a variety of respiratory and other ailments after exposure to the oil and dispersants.

The Los Angeles Times reported that seven workers were hospitalized due to sudden illness. According to Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the illness was apparently caused by exposure to a cleaning substance.

Crude oil is a poisonous stew with ingredients including cancer-causing benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a toxin that can damage the central nervous system and brain.

The legal process is already beginning to sort out issues involving negligence and liability and compensation for lost wages, medical bills and pain and suffering. Legal experts urge people who have suffered injuries, or have family members who are oil-spill victims, to carefully consider their legal options before entering into agreements with BP or others.

Article provided by Winters & Yonker P.A.

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Concerned for Your Child's Asthma? Pollution Near Schools May Be the Problem

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nation's focus has returned to the safety of our schools with the second article by USA TODAY in a series on school siting. Working closely with the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ), USA TODAY examined the environmental danger of a school located in the shadow of one of our nation's largest oil refineries. Wyandotte Early Education Center serves local 4 year-olds, whose developing lungs are particularly susceptible to the sulfuric acid, naphthalene, ammonia and benzene that the ExxonMobil plant belches into the surrounding air.

The refinery has already been fined by the EPA for failing to monitor and control sulfur gasses that can cause respiratory illness as part of $6.1 million dollars in penalties levied against ExxonMobil last week. Meanwhile, local doctors take note of unusually high rates of asthma and respiratory illness among students.

"Asthma is a direct result of air pollution and asthma is the number one reason for school absences," said Lois Gibbs, Executive Director of CHEJ. "Industries that are permitted to release toxics into the air must be monitored very carefully and, if in violation, brought into compliance immediately. Too often the industry gets away with violations over and over again without serious penalties. We protect our children by law with seat belts, car seats, bike helmets, and from negligent and abusive parents - toxic pollution should be no different." CHEJ recommends adopting the following model laws for states and as guidelines for the EPA http://www.childproofing.org/school_siting_model_legislation.htm

In December 2007, President Bush signed Subtitle E of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, instructing the EPA to develop the nation's first-ever school siting guidelines to give state legislatures direction in where schools may be physically located in relationship to toxic contamination sites. The EPA has been given a deadline of June, 2009. Nothing has been done since congress passed this directive. No one has even been given the responsibility for this task.

Meanwhile, communities struggle to relocate schools away from industrial plants emitting toxic levels of air pollutants. USA Today had identified over 20,000 of these schools located within a half mile of a major industrial plant.

"No one should have to file a lawsuit to ensure that their kids go to school on sites that are weren't used for the disposal of hazardous waste," says Steve Fischbach of Rhode Island Legal Services who has fought legal battles to pass rudimentary school siting guidelines in Rhode Island.

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