Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida

Issues:

2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster

Toxic trespass in communities at the frontline of oil-chemical activities

Projects:

We have toured the Gulf states thirteen times since 2010, hosting workshops, giving trainings, and helping communities organize as they continue to be faced with deadly oil-chemical exposureslinked to the BP oil spill and to daily emissions from oil-chemical facilities. This work led to a citizens’ petition to EPA to update the rules governing dispersant use (2012), comments on the 2015 EPA rulemaking, and, ultimately, a lawsuit to finalize these rules (2020). It also led to developing the Toxic Trespass training program and health advocacy guide with, by, and for frontline communities.

Texas

Issues

Keystone XL pipeline expansion project

Fracking & public health in communities

Projects:

In 2013 we went on the “Lone Star Tour,” organized by Texas Tar Sands Blockaders and others, which resulted in a comprehensive grassroots strategic plan for oil transition,  the first Texas town to ban fracking within city limits and a protracted political battle.

Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas

Issues:

Lack of preparation and response for oil disasters linked to oil-gas activities

Toxic trespass in communities at the frontline of oil-chemical activities

2015 EPA rulemaking on dispersant use

Project:

We conducted the “Extreme Oil – Extreme Consequences” tour(2014), talking about lack of preparation and response for unconventional oil (tar sands, dilbit and frack oil and gas) and learning about people’s resistance and transition efforts in heart of oil country. This led to a supplemental petition to EPA to update the National Contingency Plan for unconventional oil spills (2014), and it contributed to more people commenting on the 2015 EPA rulemaking.

Arkansas

Issue:

Exxon Pegasus pipeline tar sands oil dilbit spill in Mayflower, AR

Project:

In 2013, we attended a town hall meeting in Mayflower after the Exxon pipeline and oil spillto speak about human rights and potential harm to human health from oil-diluent exposure, and to learn from citizens who triggered scientific study linking fracking waste injections to earthquakes in Oklahoma.

Michigan

Issues:

2010 Enbridge tar sands pipeline spill into the Kalamazoo River and human health

2014 Enbridge Line 5 under Straits of Mackinaw

Projects:

In 2011 to 2014, we visited Michigan communities and people who were suffering long-term harm following the 2010 Enbridge tar sands pipeline spill to share our experiences with other oil disasters and gain experiences from tar sands-diluent (dilbit) exposures. We published a debriefing report for citizens concerned about fracking and tar sands activities – and confused by the oil industry’s double-speak at a Northern Michigan Pipeline Symposium regarding Enbridge Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinaw (2014). We trained citizens to comment on the consent decree and final order, asking for maximum fines and citizen advisory councils (2016).

Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin

Issues:

BP Whiting refinery tar sands oil spill into Lake Michigan

2015 EPA rulemaking on dispersant use

Projects:

In 2014, we visited communities and people who were suffering long-term harm following the BP Whiting refinery spill and daily oil-chemical exposures from industrial operations and coal ash piles. This contributed to more people commenting on the EPA rulemaking (2015), and it led to citizens using the ALERT template to comment on the consent decree and final order, asking for maximum fines and citizen advisory councils (2016).

Issues:

Lack of strong spill prevention and response planning

Marathassa oil spill in English Bay, British Columbia

Proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline corridor

Proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline tar sands extension

Projects:

We have conducted tours since 2004 to present in British Columbia, working with First Nations Peoples and environmental/public health allies to strengthen spill prevention and response planning and protect public health during oil disasters. In 2010, Rikispoke at a three-day potlatch, hosted by Haisla Nation in Kitimat, BC.

In 2012, our “Think Tanker Tour” in southern coastal BC, organized by Haida and Haisla First Nations and other allies, resulted in election of more progressive province leadership, oral expert testimony before the Canadian National Energy Board on behalf of the United Haida Nation (2012), expert witness testimony on harm to human health from oil disasters for ally-intervenors (2015, 2018), and spearheading comments to Environment Canada on rules governing dispersant use (2015). In 2015, speaking at a town hall meeting following the Marathassa oil spill led to an extended workshop on preparing communities for oil disasters.

Issues:

10^th-year memorial of the Sea Prince oil spill

1^st-year and 10^th-year memorials of the Hebei Spirit oil spill

Projects:

In 2005, we were invited to tour fishing villages and speak at the 10^th-year memorial commemorative of the Sea Prince oil spill in Yeosu, Republic of South Korea. This resulted in dedication of a public park and translation of Riki’s book, Sound Truth and Corporate Myths into South Korean. We were invited to Taean, South Korea to speak at the 1^st- and 10^th-year memorials and international symposiums of the Hebei Spirit oil spill and share insights on human health effects of oil disasters, contributing to longitudinal studies that have since linked exposures to long-term illnesses and diseases, including cancer.

Issue:

Aegean Sea oil spill in Coruna, Spain

Project:

In 1993 our founder and director, Riki Ott, was invited as a keynote speaker at the one-year memorial international symposium on the Aegean Sea oil spill in Coruna, Spain.