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EPA’s New Rules on Oil Dispersants, Explained.
This background is intended to broaden the public understanding of the scope and significance of the 2023 updates to our nation’s emergency response plan – the “National Contingency Plan” (NCP) to protect our environment against hazardous waste releases, including oil spills. The rules were updated as a result of a 2020 lawsuit (Alert v. EPA). When…
The Guardian: Environmental Protection Agency US government toughens rules on chemicals used to break up oil slicks
“Environmental activists sued EPA to update regulations, after thousands of people sickened from Deepwater Horizon cleanup The Environmental Protection Agency has announced more stringent rules governing offshore oil spill response, amid continuing concerns about the effects on public health and wildlife from chemical disasters, including BP’s Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/14/epa-chemical-regulation-oil-spill-cleanup-exxon-valdez-bp
EPA Issues Final Rule Governing Use of Chemical Dispersants on Oil Spills (Alert v. EPA)
For Immediate Release – [Download PDF] Berkeley, CA (June 13, 2023) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a long-awaited final rule governing oil spill response that may better safeguard the health of millions of people living on United States coastlines, rivers, and even highways where oil spills occur. Prompted by a lawsuit…
The Story of a Boat Captain who Worked on the BP Spill — Frank M. Howell
Frank M. Howell began working as a boat captain on the BP oil spill in May 2010. “We’d have a safety meeting every morning, which was very basic information… It was just more or less: Be safe, don’t get in the water, don’t get the stuff on you.” During the long and hot days…
What the Ohio Train Derailment and the BP Oil Spill Have in Common
Thirteen years after the BP oil spill, lessons learned from this disaster could help save lives in the aftermath of the East Palestine train disaster. By Riki Ott, Director of the ALERT Project. The Northern Suffolk (NS) disaster response in East Palestine, Ohio, is playing out with frustrating similarity to the BP Deepwater Horizon…
The Guardian: They cleaned up BP’s massive oil spill. Now they’re sick – and want justice
Today, on the thirteenth anniversary of the BP oil Spill, The Guardian published an in-depth piece on the human health crisis that was left in the wake of the disaster.
Tampa Bay Times: Florida workers got sick after Deepwater Horizon oil spill. They want BP to pay.
Tampa Bay Times reports on the more than 5,000 lawsuits filed in federal courts in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.
Petition to OSHA calls for the critical protection of oil spill workers
For Immediate Release Contact: Riki Ott, ALERT Project, 206-853-2855, [email protected] Labor and Health Advocates and Tribal Emergency Management Councils Call for OSHA to Protect Oil Spill Workers OSHA’s reporting standards keep symptoms of toxic exposure from being recorded BERKELEY, CA (February 13, 2023) — Today, in an act of solidarity, labor, commercial…
Court case piques Congressional interest and oversight / EPA’s second status report reveals intent to finalize rule without current science
July 28, 2022. U.S. Senator Markey and U.S. Representatives Barragán and Khanna sent an oversight letter to EPA, urging it to update and strengthen its proposed rule on dispersant use before finalizing it based on current science. The letter states, “New scientific research has demonstrated an urgent need for stronger regulations that better reflect the…
ALERT requests Letter of Interpretation for OSHA cold/flu exemption
July 7, 2022. ALERT requested a letter of interpretation from OSHA of 1904.5(b)(2)(viii), an exemption to recording and reportability of an illness, which states an employer is “not required to record illnesses or injuries if… [t]he illness is the common cold or flu.” Specifically, ALERT asked how OSHA determines whether the common cold and flu is the source of an…
ALERT petitions EPA to supplement its 2015 proposed rule with current science
June 23, 2020. An ALERT coalition of individuals, environmental justice, and climate justice groups took action to step up pressure on EPA to ensure that the regulatory process considers the new data and information. The coalition petitioned EPA to supplement its 2015 proposed rule with current science before finalizing the rule in May 2023.…
EPA reply to September 2021 letter inspires no confidence
May 16, 2022. Nearly six months after receiving a coalition letter from ALERT, EPA replied, stating that the agency and Dept. of Justice decided not to appeal the federal district court decision and that it “is working through its action development process to ensure a final rule” by the court-ordered deadline of View EPA’s…
EPA’s first status report fails to report on key issue
February 2, 2022. EPA’s first status report fails to provide an update on one of the key arguments it used in court to delay the final rule until 2023. Over a year ago on May 20, 2021, EPA told the court that the oil industry had blocked access to the reference oils that EPA needed…
Atypical dispersant use monitoring rules go into effect
January 24, 2022. Despite last-minute efforts by ALERT, neither the executive nor the legislative branch could stop the rollout of EPA’s final rule on environmental monitoring of “atypical dispersant use situations.” This was defined as “[a]ny subsurface use of dispersant in response to an oil discharge, surface use of dispersant in response to oil…
Gulf Coast Community Organizations & Allies for Environmental Justice Request President to Withdraw Rule on Dispersant Use Before It Goes into Effect
For Immediate Release Contacts: Riki Ott, Founder/Director, ALERT, a project of Earth Island Institute 206-853-2855, [email protected] Lesley Pacey, Founder/Director, Eastern Shore Community Health Partners, a Mobile Bay, Alabama, initiative to research chronic disease clusters 251-990-3515, [email protected] Berkeley, CA (January 18, 2022) — This week, a group of environmental-justice advocates and allies are calling on…
ALERT, Gulf Coast and other allies for environmental justice request action from U.S. President
December 27, 2021. ALERT, Gulf coast community organizations, and other allies for environmental justice sent a letter to President Biden requesting two immediate actions in relation to ongoing dispersant litigation and the associated EPA rulemaking: 1) Order EPA to withdraw its final rule on monitoring of atypical dispersant use, issued on July 27, 2021, before…
EPA drops appeal & Upcoming Court Dates
ALERT, Gulf Coast allies request action from EPA Administrator September 30, 2021. Gulf coast community organizations and allies for environmental justice sent a letter to EPA Administrator Regan requesting four immediate actions in relation to ongoing dispersant litigation and the associated EPA rulemaking: Let the August 9, 2021, court decision stand – do not appeal…
ALERT, Gulf Coast allies request action from EPA Administrator
September 30, 2021. Gulf coast community organizations and allies for environmental justice sent a letter to EPA Administrator Regan requesting four immediate actions in relation to ongoing dispersant litigation and the associated EPA rulemaking: Let the August 9, 2021, court decision stand – do not appeal it. Withdraw the final rule on monitoring for…
One step almost forward, two steps definitely backward – EPA pulls a fast one
On July 27, just weeks after the court indicated its inclination to rule in favor of the public interest in ALERT’s lawsuit on rules governing dispersant use, the EPA split its long-delayed final rule in two. The result is a further delay of the rules governing dispersant use while rushing ahead with a rule to monitor…
Court victory!
August 9, 2021. A federal district court ruled in favor of the public interest by ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its decades-old regulations on the use of toxic chemical dispersants in oil spill responses. Specifically, the court ruled that EPA now has a mandatory “duty to update the NCP when there…
EPA pulls a fast one – Issues final rule on monitoring of “atypical dispersant use”
A federal district court ruled in favor of the public interest by ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update its decades-old regulations on the use of toxic chemical dispersants in oil spill responses. Specifically, the court ruled that EPA now has a mandatory “duty to update the NCP when there is…
Judge leans in favor of ALERT at hearing on summary judgment
EPA files its opposition to ALERT’s MSJ and its own Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment May 20, 2021. In this dual-purpose filing, EPA first countered, and then asked the Court to deny, the plaintiffs’ requests for summary judgment on our unreasonable delay claim and our injunctive relief. Then EPA asked the court for summary judgment in…
ALERT files Motion for Summary Judgment
April 20, 2021. ALERT asked the court for summary judgment in our favor on the matter of the EPA’s unreasonable delay over finalizing rules governing dispersant use. We are also asking for injunctive relief – a Court order – to issue a proposed new rule within 90 days of the Court order, with the hope that EPA…
Screening: “The Cost of Silence” at Half Earth Day Festival (Oct. 25, 2020)
Filmmaker Mark Manning met Riki Ott, a marine toxicologist, in Louisiana in the summer of 2010, when the BP Deepwater Horizon was still gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster would become the largest oil spill in the U.S. at 221 million gallons. Over the next decade, Riki the scientist-activist and Mark the…
Petition to Bill and Melinda Gates — as shareholders of Ecolab — to help stop use and manufacture of toxic dispersants for oil spill response
Click here to sign the petition on Change.org Appeal to Bill and Melinda Gates — as shareholders of Ecolab — to help stop use and manufacture of toxic dispersants for oil spill response During a recent “cast” interview for the documentary A Concerned Citizen, now screening through the Global Peace Film Festival until…
Screening: “A Concerned Citizen” at the Global Peace Film Festival (Sept. 21-Oct.4, 2020)
“A Concerned Citizen” documents the work of Dr. Riki Ott, a citizen activist who helped communities hit by the Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon spills document long-term harm to people and wildlife and advance stronger national and state policies. Taking lessons she learned as an active concerned citizen, she developed the Ultimate Civics curriculum…
Forbes: Would The Use Of Chemical Dispersants In Mauritius Oil Spill Be Considered An Ecocide?
Read the article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/09/13/would-the-use-of-chemical-dispersants-in-mauritius-oil-spill-be-considered-an-ecocide/#69a98a035a6d
Court Rejects Reconsideration: Stays the Course
September 1, 2020. The District Court rejected EPA’s motion to reconsider its motion to dismiss the court’s earlier landmark ruling that required EPA to keep the nation’s oil spill response plans current and effective. In the September ruling, the Judge wrote that “EPA’s arguments amount to an improper repetition of the arguments that it made…
Webinar: Short-and long-term human health impacts of the Wakashio Oil spill (Aug. 25, 2020)
On August 25 at 12:30 PM EDT, Dr. Riki Ott participated in a free webinar panel discussion of short-and long-term human health impacts of the Wakashio oil spill in the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius. This spill could be a game-changer for use of heavy fuel oil to propel the majority of large ships…
EPA stalls case
EPA filed a motion requesting that Judge Orrick reconsider his reasoned ruling on our Clean Water Act claim. EPA claimed that the Judge did not specifically address various issues it raised in its motion to dismiss our case. However, the Judge’s written opinion and the hearing transcripts both show that these issues were in…
ALERT v. EPA makes law! Ruling a “game-changer”
June 2, 2020. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Orrick ruled that the Clean Water Act requires the EPA to keep the nation’s oil spill response plans current and effective. New research has linked chemical dispersants, heavily used during the 2010 BP spill response, with long-term illnesses in humans and wildlife. The EPA has failed to consider…
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…
Surviving the BP Oil Spill // Ep. 3 // Documenting the Harm
For episode 3, Riki Ott hosts those who have dedicated years to documenting the human health impacts of the BP oil spill. This weeks’s guests include: Lesley Pacey, a Mobile Register reporter whose daughter Sarah was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia at age 4 in 2004. Since Sarah’s diagnosis, Pacey founded and directs the Eastern…
Surviving the BP oil spill // Ep. 2 // Women on the front line
For the second episode of our series, “10 Years Surviving the BP Oil Spill” Dr. Riki Ott joins residents of coastal communities in Alabama and western Florida: Captain Lori DeAngelis, who ran dolphin viewing charters before and after the BP oil disaster in western Florida and has experienced physical and mental health trauma as her…
Surviving the BP Oil Spill // Ep. 1 // Louisiana First Responders
Throughout the 10th anniversary month of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, we are hosting 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…
Live Stream Premiere! BP Oil Spill Survivors Tell Their Stories (March 31, 2020)
Episode 1, March 31 Dr. Riki Ott will join first responders — Louisiana residents who were part of the initial response to the 2010 BP oil disaster and who are now suffering from life-threatening illnesses — to demonstrate that current practices in the U.S oil-spill response plan are unsafe and endanger the health of…
Press Conference: Connecting the Dots Between Long-Term Illness and the BP Oil Spill
In anticipation of the anniversary date of the 2010 BP oil spill, Marine Toxicoligist and environmental activist riki ott held a press conference on March 25, 2020, to break down the scientific evidence linking oil dispersants (used on oil spills) to long-term illness in communities surrounding oil disasters.
Tribal Emergency Response Training (June 14, 2020) CANCELED
Canceled due to COVID-19 After presenting at The National Tribal Emergency Management Council (NTEMC) annual conference in Wisconsin in 2019, Dr. Riki Ott was invited to conduct a workshop on Oil Spill Preparation and Response for Response Workers and Leaders of Tribal Communities in the Pacific Northwest at the Northwest Tribal Emergency Management Council Regional Conference,…
ALERT to interview Gulf residents for British Petroleum (BP) oil disaster memorial during April
Our series of live streams “Gulf voices & why we need to listen,” is part of our project to expose long-term illnesses and deaths following the BP oil disaster and highlight the urgent need for national policy reform. Ten years since British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill, hundreds of thousands of people may be suffering from long-term illnesses. Thousands…