The State of the Gulf

November 13, 2013

• The only study cited in Al Jazeera’s story – conducted by Houston’s University Cancer and Diagnostic Centers – fell well beneath the generally accepted professional standards of human health research and scholarship.  For instance, the 117 participants in the so-called “exposed” group were referred by their legal counsel – not randomly recruited – introducing selection bias and raising serious concerns about the study’s credibility and the peer review process.  The study also failed to control for age, gender, and other relevant confounding factors that explain many, if not all, of the observed hematological and blood chemistry differences between the “exposed” and control groups.  Controlling for age and gender, the biometric findings observed in the “exposed” group are actually within normal ranges, and do not support the authors’ conclusions about the likelihood of benzene exposure and possible “health consequences.”
• At least one of the toxicologists cited in Al Jazeera’s story is a paid consultant to plaintiffs’ lawyers.  This same individual’s claims were considered by the District Court before it approved the class action Settlement Agreement between BP and the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee to resolve medical claims.  As the Court said in its order approving the Settlement, this individual’s “conclusory and unsupported assertions are not helpful to the Court, a deficiency for which numerous other courts have criticized her submissions.”
• Throughout the response, the health of responders was a priority for BP and the Unified Command.  Actions taken during the response were performed consistent with regulatory protections, and reinforced this commitment to health and safety.  Workers responding to the Deepwater Horizon accident were provided safety training and personal protective equipment in close coordination with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other U.S. government agencies with safety responsibility. 
• The results from more than 30,000 air monitoring samples collected by BP, the U.S. Coast Guard, OSHA, the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consistently showed that workers and members of the general public were not exposed to airborne concentrations of oil, oil constituents, or dispersants at levels above occupational and community exposure standards established by OSHA, EPA, and other government agencies.
• The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and state health departments tracked potential short-term health effects related to the oil spill in communities along the Gulf Coast.  As the CDC has said, “No trends in illnesses were identified by the multiple surveillance systems used.”  In addition, analyses of environmental air samples for volatile organic compounds along the Gulf shore “found air concentrations that would not likely result in long term health effects to residents of Gulf coast communities,” according to the CDC.

BP supports responsible scientific efforts that help provide a better understanding of the potential health effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill.  Our commitment of $500 million to establish the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative includes funding for independent public health research and has also helped to support the Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study, a 10-year research program by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which will track the health status of some 30,000 responders.

In addition, as part of the Medical Settlement, BP agreed to provide $105 million over five years to a set of integrated projects designed to improve healthcare capacity and health literacy in Gulf Coast Communities.  Almost $54 million of those funds have already been distributed.  The Medical Settlement also provides funding to compensate clean-up workers and thousands of Gulf area residents who experienced certain physical conditions that may be associated with exposure to oil and/or dispersants, and to provide those individuals with medical consultations for the next 21 years.  A fair-minded account of public health issues related to the spill would acknowledge these actions, as well as the findings of the multiple government agencies that have investigated these matters.