Surviving the BP Oil Spill // Ep. 4 // Preventing a Disaster

In episode four, Dr. Ott hosts guests Lynda Zambrano and Rick Steiner, who discuss civic actions we can take right now to change unsafe, outdated oil spill policies and to build local capacity within communities to minimize harm during oil disasters.

Lynda Zambrano of the Tulalip Nation, organized the first Tribal Emergency Response Council on Indian lands, then the Northwest Tribal Emergency Management Council, and then the National Tribal Emergency Management Council, as well as annual conferences to keep Tribes current and informed of latest practices and new technologies.

Rick Steiner proposed and helped establish the Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council and the Prince William Sound Science Center after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, as well as a billion-dollar legal settlement between Exxon and the government with which much of the coastline of the oil spill region was protected.

Throughout the 10th anniversary month of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, ALERT hosted a series of live interviews to raise awareness about the ongoing suffering and chronic illnesses of those who lived and worked near the disaster. Studies now show that chemicals used by the government to “clean up” the spill form a toxic cocktail when combined with oil — a mixture far more dangerous than the oil itself.