Blog
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…
Read MoreThe 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
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.
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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.
Read MorePetition 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…
Read MoreCourt 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…
Read MoreALERT 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…
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