Billed as the world’s worst man-made ecological disaster, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues to cause enormous environmental and economical suffering. After an explosion occurred on BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig on the 20th April 2010, 4.9 million barrels of oil spewed into the sea over several months before BP finally managed to contain and then seal the leak. The oil rig explosion killed eleven workers, whose bodies were never found. Aside from a number of accident claims relating to the initial explosion, BP is faced with a massive clean-up bill (up to $20 billion) that includes compensation payouts to local communities whose businesses have been destroyed by the spill. Whilst the cost of the Deepwater Horizon disaster is ongoing, BP has been hit by a fresh wave of personal injury claims over the way in which it attempted to clear the oil spill.
Two Gulf Coast residents, Glynis Wright and Janille Turner, have claimed that Corexit 9500 – the chemical dispersant used by BP to clear oil from the sea – is “four times more toxic than sweet crude oil.” According to reports, BP sprayed up to 1.8 million gallons of Corexit into the sea but failed to disclose the exact chemical composition of the substance, which is produced by Nalco. A class action suit has now been filed in Alabama against BP and Nalco by Ms Wright and Ms Turner. Depending on the success of the lawsuit, many more injury claims may be filed against BP by workers and residents who have been affected by the contaminated sea water. The class action seeks compensation for “negligence and wanton misconduct, as well as nuisance, trespass, battery and medical monitoring.”
Although BP has managed to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, it may be helpless to prevent further litigation, following reports that Corexit 9500 has probably entered the food chain Scientists from the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory recently conducted tests on crab larvae and concluded that the substance was more likely than not in the food chain. Nalco has further revealed that Corexit “may cause nausea and vomiting [and] can cause chemical pneumonia if aspirated into lungs.” Dr Susan Shaw of the Marine Environmental Research Institute commented: “We believe that Corexit dispersants, in combination with crude oil, pose grave health risks to marine life and human health and threaten to deplete critical niches in the Gulf food web that may never recover.”
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