Tag Archives: Secretary of Labor

James Oberstar, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Jerrold Nadler have written a letter to Lisa Jackson (EPA administrator) and Hilda Solis (Secretary of the Department of Labor). Click on image to enlarge:

This was sent to me via e-mail:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 3, 2010
CONTACT:

Mary Kerr (Oberstar)…

Ilan Kayatsky (Nadler)…

WASHINGTON, D.C – Today, Rep. James Oberstar (Minn.), Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Labor demanding that all response and recovery workers responding to the Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill be provided proper protective equipment, including respirators, and that all federal laws governing worker safety and respiratory protection be enforced.

According to news reports, numerous workers have fallen ill after exposure to the oil, the dispersants, or some combination of the two. In their letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Reps. Oberstar and Nadler urged the federal government to ensure that BP is properly protecting the workers, and that BP is not allowed to evade liability or shift the cost to the taxpayers for any potential health effects.

“There are several hazardous substances present in the oil and in the chemical dispersants that are supposed to break up the oil, forming a ‘toxic soup.’  The dispersant that BP has chosen to use, Corexit, is considered one of the most toxic.  Last week, several cleanup workers were taken to the hospital complaining of nausea, shortness of breath and other respiratory ailments,” said Oberstar.  “It is the federal government’s responsibility to enforce public health and safety laws.  Unfortunately, at the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attack, OSHA rules were not enforced, and thousands of emergency responders, area workers and residents are now sick and receiving treatment.  This must not happen to those living and working in the Gulf Coast area.”

“The toxic soup formed by the combination of oil and chemical dispersants in the Gulf poses a very real and immediate danger to workers exposed during the cleanup process,” said Nadler.  “If we are to avert a monumental health crisis, the federal government must now uphold its responsibility to ensure that all cleanup workers are outfitted with proper protective equipment, including respirators, and that all contractors comply with federal safety and respiratory protection laws.  The federal government failed to protect first responders, workers and community members in the aftermath of the attacks of 9/11 – and now thousands of people have respiratory illnesses that would have been preventable – and we absolutely must not allow that to happen again in the Gulf.”

The letter cited a memo from David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, to Admiral Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander for the oil spill, which raised concerns about BP’s ability or willingness to protect its workers.  Mr. Michaels wrote, “The organizational systems that BP currently has in place, particularly those related to worker safety and health training, protective equipment, and site monitoring, are not adequate for the current situation or the projected increase in clean-up operations.”  Mr. Michaels also wrote, “I want to stress that these are not isolated problems. They appear to be indicative of a general systemic failure on BP’s part, to ensure the safety and health of those responding to this disaster.”

UPDATE: Here is the Smoking Gun memo from the head of OSHA to Thad Allen saying BP is totally out of compliance with worker protection laws and refuses to come into compliance.

BP is still out of compliance because of no respirators, and everything else listed.

H/t: AltaKocker