Press Release: Judge Barbier, Allow the People to Hold NALCO Accountable!
When: Wednesday, June 13th, 2012, 1:30pm
Where: In front of Hale Boggs Federal Building, 500 Poydras, New Orleans, La.
Why: The deadline for submitting comments, evidence, documents to Judge Carl Barbier, in support of holding Nalco accountable is June 18th. Judge Barbier oversees the plaintiff’s case and settlement against BP. Judge Barbier is to decide whether or not to allow law suits against Nalco to go forward. Nalco is the manufacturer of the toxic dispersant Corexit. Nalco has strong ties to the oil industry. Millions of gallons of the dispersant Corexit have been applied to the Gulf to sink the oil.
We call on Judge Barbier to allow the people to hold Nalco accountable. According to the Material Safety Data Sheet for the Corexit, this dispersant was never tested for its toxicity to humans. In addition, according to numerous independent scientists, the Corexit is highly toxic to marine life. Some studies have shown that the dispersant Corexit makes the oil more toxic. Many families on the Gulf coast have become ill with exposure to the toxic oil mixed with Corexit. The dispersant Corexit is banned in many countries, including Great Britain.
Several groups and individuals in support of holding Nalco accountable will be present to speak to the press and public, including Grandmothers for the Gulf, the Emergency Committee to Stop the Gulf Oil Disaster and others. These same groups and individuals will then deliver petitions, letters, documents and articles to Judge Barbier’s office in the Hale Boggs Federal Building to present as evidence to support allowing the people to hold Nalco accountable.
For more information, please call 504-231-8789, or 757-642-8607.
References:
Nalco’s ties to the oil industry:
http://www.nalco.com/aboutnalco/history.htm
Dr. Susan Shaw, marine toxicologist, on the toxicity of Corexit mixed with oil:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tedtalks/susan-shaw-the-oil-spills_b_660792.html
A report by Pro Publica on the toxicity of Corexit:
http://www.propublica.org/article/bp-gulf-oil-spill-dispersants-0430
A Grist report by Tom Phillpot on the toxicity of dispersants and the lack of testing of that toxicity for humans:
http://grist.org/article/2010-05-06-use-of-toxic-chemical-dispersants-to-fight-the-oil-spill-a-murky/
Dr. Nancy Kinner, Microbiologist with the University of New Hampshire, on the inadequate protocols for the testing of Corexit and its toxicity to marine life:
YouTube – Videos from this email
Special thanks to Richard Charter