Warning To Gulf Volunteers: Almost Every Cleanup Worker From The 1989 Valdez Disaster Is Now Dead

How do they know do they track them all down?

And what did they die from? Immune diseases?

Well 1989 was 20 years ago. That would make the average age what? 50-60 now?

Wow anyways, everyone chooses his own destiny I believe,.


I agree with the poster who says this is possibly more propoganda to get people not to clean it up. As well

[edit on 1-7-2010 by spiritualgirl]

reply to post by poet1b


Yeah, I did a pretty thorough search in google and on the CNN website and could not find the video link to the actual CNN source page. I found it posted on plenty of other sites, but I think this is an edited video to make it seem like a CNN video. I think this must be a hoax. Its really too bad people do that on this site, most of the folks here are pretty informed and educated but we should be spending our time on real things not these misinformation campaigns!

I wish I could take away a star or put a red star or something. That would discourage these people from posting these uninformed lies.

I also enjoyed the congressional study, very informative.

[edit on 1-7-2010 by memarf1]

Originally posted by DrJay1975
No offense but this BS. There were more than 11000 cleanup workers on the Valdez. There was just a congressional study that said 3000 or so of those cleanup workers are probably suffering from respiratory problems. www.adn.com...

Just want to correct your link here; the link you gave was to a 1999 Anchorage Daily News article about health effects on Valdez cleanup workers. Interesting and relevant, but I think this is what you probably meant to link in:

Health of Exxon Valdez cleanup workers was never studied

No offense but if "Almost all" of them were dead we would have seen a class action suit. And none was filed, ever.

Still, it does look like there may have been health repercussions that just couldn't be linked to the cleanup directly enough to satisfy legal requirements.

And the fact that the CNN video footage and article isn't on the CNN website leads me to believe its hoaxed.

I thought about this too, but since poet1b provided the link that at least describes that an interview took place, I'm leaning more towards it being hyperbole than hoax.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in agreement that the statement as it stands is very questionable and I'm having a hard time believing that if it could actually be backed up with published evidence we couldn't find such a source.

But then I also think it's horrible that no one seems to have done a thorough study of whether or not there were effects, and that Exxon apparently is the only entity that holds the medical records that would be able to provide so much valuable information for planning for future cleanup situations and has refused to release them to people who have tried to perform such studies.


edit: link fixing

[edit on 7/1/2010 by americandingbat]

Can someone enlighten me?

Why are we trying to "clean up" not a spill, but rather an ongoing gusher of oil?

This would be akin to using small band-aids to clean up the blood of a severe, bleeding wound.

The wound needs to be fixed/sealed/closed before "clean-up" can commence.

You can only clean up something after it has finished making a *MESS*

This boggles my mind. "clean up" -- um, how about we focus on sealing it and then cleaning it up?

The MSM and the big oil companies have brainwashed us to all think "clean up" is the answer.

Why try to clean up an ongoing problem? It's like fighting the wind! Fix the problem, and then clean up the problem.

There is something deeper going on here, and I can't figure it out. The puzzle pieces do not seem to fit.

[edit on 1-7-2010 by MystikMushroom]

reply to post by monkeySEEmonkeyDO


"Almost" all dead, If you were a fish you're life expectancy would be a
few days. And it won't be Almost all Dead, it will be All Dead.

There never was any doubt that Oil was toxic to anything living on
Land or Sea. If you can get headaches from breathing the fumes from
1/2 mile away, it's messing with your body chemestry.

I wouldn't go anywhere near that coast without a Full Haz-Mat Suit.
But it's kinda like when there's a Tsunami, everybody rushs down to
the sea bacause they ain't seen one before.

reply to post by MystikMushroom


I honestly believe they have no Idea how to stop or even slow it. Even
blowing it up will create an even bigger problem. Once Blown, you can't
Un-Blow it.

I think they are praying that god will Intervene and stuff a sock in it or
it just drains dry. Probably more the Later than the Former.

Which will Last Longer the Iraq War or the BP War?
The Iraq War will last forever, and there's enough Oil in the ground to
outlast Mankind. Tough Choice.

reply to post by DrJay1975

No offense but this BS. There were more than 11000 cleanup workers on the Valdez. There was just a congressional study that said 3000 or so of those cleanup workers are probably suffering from respiratory problems. www.adn.com...

Very good! Few if any of the Exxon V. cleanup crew experienced problems.

I was one of them, I can verify that this is true! As I've done in 2 previous posts!

The OP's contention that Exxon Valdez workers died is completely bogus! Bogus as in someone is lying and has another agenda here!

Am I making myself clear?

Why is this spill not causing great danger to the cleanup crew?

Because only great quantities of fresh oil can cause intoxication and only by respiratory inhalation. This spill is about 60 plus days now and very little of the volatile hydrocarbons persist. This is mostly aged oil and mostly nontoxic to humans.

Again, I was one of the veterinary experts on the scene of the E. Valdez disaster. I'd invite any technical question re that spill.

They hire poor folks to cleanup, people with no health care or money and 20 years later most are dead?????

If it's even true it wouldn't surprise me.

reply to post by monkeySEEmonkeyDO


Sounds like bs scare-mongering to me. Who's the original source, David Icke?

Every time I hear BP mentioned I always think of BhoPal, for some reason! How many thousand Indian civilians did the American company Union Carbide (now Dow) kill in that "accident"?

Despite it being the world's worst industrial catastrophe aren't the people of Bhopal still waiting for the area to be properly cleaned and decontaminated after 26 years of suffering?

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "cowboys and indians"!

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Here is what I read and of course it is in our very own ATS.....

BP has issued warnings to workers cleaning up the gulf oil spill that if they wear masks to protect themselves they will be fired

Hope this link helps!

Currently I am highly stressed by this leak and cannot believe that deep sea drilling was allowed when there was no solution if a leak happens. I am sure if one would explain to young children the pros and cons to deep sea drilling and explained to them what would happened if there was a leak that 99% of them would say "NO Way" to drilling. We have had so many leaks on land not to anticipate a leak from deep sea drilling. Why did not the government who approved these sites not request a back up plan to a leak. I work with computers and my clients are fortune 500 companies and I would not be allowed to do any work without a back up plan.... The environment is far more important than any one companies data. There are very few unique companies without competitors to fill their positions if they fail due to data loss, however, we only have one gulf coast! Were was the level of care????

[edit on 7/2/2010 by IceHappy]

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
So, in about 15 years when the health effects have piled up, who will pay to comfort the dying? BP? Uncle Sam? Or do we expect to bankrupt a bunch of widows to be?

Don't forget that the widows may be taking care of any children born with birth defects.

reply to post by plumranch


Well, we don't have any way of knowing for sure if you are telling the truth, but I think if oil cleanups resulted in such high death rates, they wouldn't be able to keep the information from getting out.

I find the claims in the video that everyone has died from that oil cleanup to be highly unbelievable.

Originally posted by Blaine91555
Whatever happened to having logical debates and working together towards the truth?

It would be a MUCH bigger help if the OP produced actual numbers instead of hyperbole. "Almost every worker has died" is not very good data.

But we see more and more of this at ATS every day. Big claims not backed up with actual data. Such as:

1. How many people worked on the Valdez cleanup?
2. How many are now dead?
3. What was the cause of death for the deceased?

If you don't even know how many people there were in #1, then how can you claim that #2 is "almost every worker?"

The OP sets the tone. If the OP is factually challenged, the thread is derailed before it even starts. And that's a good thing, because it keeps people from just repeating "what they heard."

If it kills us or not it is still our responsibility to our children to leave this world a better place then the way it was when we got here.

reply to post by poet1b


I worked with the US Fish and Wildlife Service on one of their boats picking up oiled otters. I was their Alaska Veterinarian representative.

The effects on the otters was highly studied and analyzed. A lot of technical material came out of that spill. I read all the studies and was involved in publication.

Generally though the otters suffered respiratory pathology mostly during the first days of the spill from the short chain hydrocarbons ie. generally less than 50 carbons in length, the shorter, the more toxic.

The worst effect was emphysema but pneumonia and inflamation were seen also. That in combination with liver toxicity cased nearly 100% death in otters directly oiled in the first days of the spill. It was thought that since otters operate on the water surface and could not escape to higher ground, they were affected more.

The volatiles disappeared rapidly. I was there on day seven and they were mostly gone by that time.

I did a little research on the current spill and most of the warnings to humans are only subjective, no actual human pathology seen yet.

Deepwater Horizon Affects on Health

So far, she says, the odor is light and transient. There has been other reassuring news regarding air quality, White tells WebMD. "There has been air monitoring along the coastline and that didn't pick up anything so far." Touching the oil can cause skin irritation and burning, she says. "Standing next to it and not touching it will not cause any problems."

In general, "most oils spills have more ecological effects than human health effects," she says.

Originally posted by wrathchild
I'm a drag-racer...

I'm usually covered in oil...at least 3-4 times a week.

How can an auto-motive mechanic survive..every day dealing with oil.

am I missing something??

Same here. As far as I know, 'shop oil' has been refined and seperated before its bottled. That stuff coming out of the ocean floor is crude and toxic. Just like gas chemically burns your skin, but oil doesn't. Crude is seperated into many types of substances.

Originally posted by monkeySEEmonkeyDO

Warning To Gulf Volunteers: Almost Every Cleanup Worker From The 1989 Exxon Valdez Disaster Is Now Dead

ww w.businessinsider.com

Are you sure that you want to help clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? In a previous article we documented a number of the health dangers from this oil spill that many scientists are warning us of, and now it has been reported on CNN that the vast majority of those who worked to clean up the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska are now dead. Yes, you read that correctly. Almost all of them are dead.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 30-6-2010 by monkeySEEmonkeyDO]

This information is biased at best. That's 21 years ago.

The usual fear-inducing article and reported by non-other then a major media network.




[edit on 2-7-2010 by 11118]

Originally posted by OuttaTime
Perhaps this will be the convincing evidence to wake them up. Just like the OP, my concerns are with the points made in the video. These spill can't be taken lightly, especially one of this magnitude.

I have yet to see one post saying anything of the sort. Although i do notice every time someone mentions that just MAYBE this wont cause the planet to implode and jeebus riding in on a firey segway they get attacked for being a BP shill and people claim they said all kinds of things they didnt.

No, no, you're right. really.

reply to post by plumranch


Careful, all that info will make the doomsdayers call you a all kinds of names.

el lino segundo.