bp health impacts

“Feinberg says no claims filed on cleanup illnesses,” ran an erroneous Associated Press headline last week, stirring up more mistrust of the BP claims process among Gulf Coast residents.  It is simply not true that sick cleanup workers have not filed medical claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), administered by Kenneth Feinberg.  Rather, Feinberg and the GCCF appear to be categorically

A diverse coalition of 154 groups, including Waterkeeper Alliance, United Houma Nation, Greenpeace and 69 different Waterkeepers organizations, representing hundreds of thousands of community members around the country, Mexico and China, sent a letter to EPA Administrator Jackson and HHS Secretary Sebelius demanding action on the growing public health crisis on the Gulf Coast.

The number one question everyone has asked me since my walk to Washington D.C. is, “How are your feet?”  They are fairly good. Although I do still get the “hikers wobble,” usually early in the morning or if I sit too long.

Last weekend in Washington, D.C., more than 100 Gulf Coast residents called for action from President Obama and Congress to make BP pay for its ongoing disaster, and to clean up and restore the Gulf Coast.  The contingent was part of Power Shift 2011, a youth climate summit and organizing training, nearly 10,000 people strong.  Watch the top five videos from the historic summit, as children, students, workers, advocates, and whistleblowers challenged big polluters and too

Compiled by Facing South/The Institute for Southern Studies.  Percent of the population living within 10 miles of Gulf of Mexico waters in areas affected by the BP disaster who were directly exposed to the spilled oil: 40

Percent of Southeast Louisiana residents surveyed by the Louisiana Bucket Brigade who reported being exposed to BP's oil or chemical dispersants: 46

By Sue Sturgis, Facing South. A year after the BP oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, a growing number of cleanup workers and coastal residents are reporting debilitating health problems associated with exposure to toxic chemicals in cru

Originally posted on IPSNews.net. Days after the BP oil disaster began, on Apr. 20, 2010, BP and the U.S. administration pledged that Gulf Coast communities would be made whole. One year later that promise remains unfulfilled: across the Gulf there is a developing health crisis as a result of the oil spill.

Our state and federal governments, and BP itself, must demonstrate the will to take actions promised a year ago.

As a result of Gulf Coast communities' advocacy in Washington DC this weekend, a representative from the Department of Health and Human Services will join a community town hall meeting in New Orleans toni