Toxic Aftermath Of Dispersants Used by BP

A new report by Al Jazeera English documents the ugly toxic aftermath of banned chemical dispersants used by BP in the Gulf Oil Spill.

BP admits to using 1.9 million gallons of the chemicals known as poly-aromatic hydrocarbons. According to data provided by chemist Bob Naman of the Analytical Chemical Testing Lab, in Mobile Alabama, these compounds are making people dangerously ill. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, bloody urine, and lung disease.

Our government, my friends, allowed BP to use huge quantities of these carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic chemicals in the so called cleanup process, in spite of clear warnings from Alaskan scientists and fishermen about the toxic after-effects of such chemicals when they were used in the Exxon Valdez disaster. Make no mistake, the sole purpose of these chemicals is to cover-up the magnitude of the disaster. They do nothing to make the situation any better, they simply hide the oil long enough for the oil company to declare the "clean up" completed, thus limiting their expenses.

Why did the Obama administration permit this, in the face of clear scientific evidence that it was going to make the ecological disaster far worse in the long run? Why? Because, like everyone in DC, they are totally divorced from reality, and insulated from consequences. The Obama administration was thinking only about "spin".

Now Americans are sick and dying. Now there is a huge dead zone in the Gulf, which was already teetering on the brink of ecological disaster. But the spin has been managed, Robert Gibbs and the other talking heads have glibly declared "problem solved", and the corporate-owned mainstream media have moved along to another news topic.

Thanks, Mr President. Truly, this is "change we can believe in". You lying bastard.

Original article in AJE here.