By Jessica Moore, Justice
No 29 March-May 2002
Paper of Socialist
Alternative (US-CWI)
The toll of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill is a sadly familiar one: 250,000 dead birds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals – all victims of the oil tanker that ran over a reef late one April night and drained 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound. But most people are unaware that the tragedy did not only affect wildlife: many of the thousands of workers who helped clean up the spill have suffered serious health problems ever since. These are the workers that stood in the brown foam 18 hours a day, slept with oil matted in their hair, breathed in the thick hydrocarbon haze, and ate food speckled with oil.
More than a decade after the spill, hundreds of them say
that they are suffering from problems ranging from nausea and nosebleeds to
kidney problems and cancer. Lawyers believe the actual number of injuries may
be far greater than what has been reported so far. Many, they said, have never
associated things like headaches, cancer, rashes, liver and kidney problems to
a chemical exposure that happened more than a decade ago. "Chemical
poisoning can cause . . . health problems that manifest as many different
symptoms," Los Angeles legal investigator Erin Brockovich said (Grist
Magazine, 11/6/01).
Crude oil contains hazardous metals and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, or PAHs, some of which are known carcinogens. The Valdez cleanup
also involved strong solvents, which give off extremely hazardous fumes when
used. These materials could have entered workers' lungs as a mist or been
absorbed through their skin when they hosed down contaminated beaches, some
experts say (LA Times, 11/5/01).
Confidential documents unearthed years later in court
records showed that a large number of workers visited clinics with
upper-respiratory complaints – a potential warning flag of chemical exposure (Anchorage
Daily News, 5/13/99). Exxon concluded that they were a result not of
chemical poisoning but a viral illness – eliminating any obligation to report
the cases to the government and set up a long-term health-monitoring program.
In all, there were 6,722 patient visits for respiratory illness. While some
workers may have gone to the clinic more than once, it means that potentially
40% of the work force had respiratory problems severe enough to see a doctor.
Exxon lobbied successfully to avoid having the spill
designated as a hazardous waste cleanup, which would have required them to
provide workers with 40 hours of training in how to manage the dangerous
materials they would be handling. Exxon also failed to provide proper
protective suits (instead issuing rain slickers), and had only paper masks
available.
This is a classic example of how big corporations put
profits before workers' safety (not to mention the environment). We need an
alternative system that will work on behalf of workers and the environment –
and that system is socialism.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court recently overturned the
1994 jury verdict forcing Exxon to pay punitive damages to the fishermen,
residents, property owners, and Native Americans affected by the Valdez spill.
A three-judge panel said $5 billion was too much and should be reduced by a
lower court. These impoverished commercial fishermen were crushed by hearing
that after seven years of waiting, they're no closer to collecting what Exxon
owes them, and might ultimately have to settle for far less.
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