DeepSummary
The episode begins with a firsthand account from John Winstell Junior, a former commercial shrimper hired by BP to help with the oil spill cleanup efforts in 2010. Winstell recounts being sprayed with dispersants from an aircraft while working on a vessel called Ramey's Wish, causing him and his crew to fall severely ill. He was medevaced to a hospital where he was treated in a decontamination tent.
Winstell's account sheds light on the urgency to disperse and get rid of as much oil as possible before President Obama's visit to the Gulf on May 28, 2010. He later filed a lawsuit against BP seeking compensation for his health issues, including cancer, but his case was eventually dismissed due to the inability to prove specific causation.
The episode explores the challenges faced by cleanup workers in proving that their illnesses were caused by exposure during the spill. Experts from the Downs Law Group and the Gulf Study discuss the difficulties in establishing a causal link, particularly due to the lack of comprehensive data collection and monitoring during the cleanup efforts.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- John Winstell Junior, a former commercial shrimper, and his crew experienced severe illness after being sprayed with dispersants during the BP oil spill cleanup efforts.
- There was an urgency to disperse and remove as much oil as possible before President Obama's visit to the Gulf on May 28, 2010.
- Cleanup workers face significant challenges in proving that their illnesses were caused by exposure during the spill due to lack of comprehensive data collection and monitoring.
- BP has been successful in winning lawsuits filed by cleanup workers seeking compensation for health issues, as courts have placed a heavy burden of proof on establishing specific causation.
- Experts from the Downs Law Group and the Gulf Study discuss the difficulties in establishing a causal link between the oil spill and chronic illnesses like cancer, given the prevalence of other risk factors and comorbidities in the region.
- The lack of comprehensive data collection during the cleanup efforts has made it challenging for cleanup workers to meet the courts' expectations for proving causation.
- As more cleanup workers develop cancers and chronic illnesses, their ability to seek compensation from BP may be limited due to the dismissal of their lawsuits and the inability to conclusively link their conditions to the oil spill exposure.
- John Winstell Junior and other cleanup workers have faced personal and community backlash for taking legal action against BP, as some viewed it as a threat to the compensation programs they were relying on.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “They should have never offered these jobs. That's how I take it. Now I realize what they did. They took my life away from it. And it took a lot of other people's lives away from me. I got friends that passed away because of this. I got one of my deckhands that died, and it's hard.“ by John Winstell Junior
- “In Louisiana, we have a lot of comorbidities. We have an unhealthy population with a lot of smoking, a lot of obesity, and a lot of lung disease.“ by James Diaz
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Episode Information
Ripple
American Public Media
2/8/24
A never-before-heard first hand account sheds new light on the clean-up of the BP oil spill.
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