American citizens living along the gulf coast, many of whom have been directly affected by the recent BP gulf oil spill, are being hired in ever increasing numbers by the British oil giant to perform much of the necessary cleanup and boom-setting operations there. Many of these responders are fishermen who would normally be working the rich waters of the Gulf of Mexico to bring in a vital portion of the nation's seafood supply. Unfortunately for these folks, federal officials have had to shut down most of the fishing and harvesting activities. This is due to the still uncontrolled well-head gushing unprecedented amounts of crude oil into the heart of America's fragile wetlands, beaches, and estuaries. In addition, a recent six-month ban on offshore drilling in response to the BP oil rig disaster threatens to put even more gulf coast residents out of work at a time when the unemployment rate is already sky high.
BP has promised to pay all "legitimate" claims by people and businesses affected by the April 20th spill. At this point, the financial claims payment process is nowhere near as efficient as it needs to be. This is mainly because BP's policy of waiting for books to close each month is not efficient enough. As well, demands placed on fishermen and business owners to prove their losses by producing financial statements, is further complicating this issue. As the fishing and tourism industries in these states are seasonal and often short-lived, it can be extremely difficult to prove losses when there is no consistent paper trail to follow. This has understandably led to a lot of confusion and frustration between British Petroleum and the local businesses and individuals affected by the crisis.
Unfortunately, we are probably closer to the beginning of this crisis than we are to the end of it. Most of the toughest work remains, as the real oil spill cleanup efforts haven't even started yet. This is mainly because only a small percentage of the millions of gallons of spilled crude oil have yet to come ashore. Already though, we are hearing an alarming number of reports concerning oil spill cleanup workers complaining of unsafe working conditions adversely affecting their health. Consistent and prolonged exposure to extremely high concentrations of raw hydrocarbons (crude oil) has been proven to be a potentially deadly and hazardous work environment.
The symptoms now being reported by some of the BP oil spill crews are eerily similar to those experienced by individuals who participated in the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup in 1989. For this reason, oil rig personnel, cleanup crews, boom layers, etc. are likely to experience serious health problems down the road. Any legitimate workers compensation, accident compensation, and or accident injury claim associated with this disaster is sure to trouble both British Petroleum and the US government forthe foreseeable future. (ArticlesBase SC #2634170)
BP has promised to pay all "legitimate" claims by people and businesses affected by the April 20th spill. At this point, the financial claims payment process is nowhere near as efficient as it needs to be. This is mainly because BP's policy of waiting for books to close each month is not efficient enough. As well, demands placed on fishermen and business owners to prove their losses by producing financial statements, is further complicating this issue. As the fishing and tourism industries in these states are seasonal and often short-lived, it can be extremely difficult to prove losses when there is no consistent paper trail to follow. This has understandably led to a lot of confusion and frustration between British Petroleum and the local businesses and individuals affected by the crisis.
Unfortunately, we are probably closer to the beginning of this crisis than we are to the end of it. Most of the toughest work remains, as the real oil spill cleanup efforts haven't even started yet. This is mainly because only a small percentage of the millions of gallons of spilled crude oil have yet to come ashore. Already though, we are hearing an alarming number of reports concerning oil spill cleanup workers complaining of unsafe working conditions adversely affecting their health. Consistent and prolonged exposure to extremely high concentrations of raw hydrocarbons (crude oil) has been proven to be a potentially deadly and hazardous work environment.
The symptoms now being reported by some of the BP oil spill crews are eerily similar to those experienced by individuals who participated in the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup in 1989. For this reason, oil rig personnel, cleanup crews, boom layers, etc. are likely to experience serious health problems down the road. Any legitimate workers compensation, accident compensation, and or accident injury claim associated with this disaster is sure to trouble both British Petroleum and the US government forthe foreseeable future. (ArticlesBase SC #2634170)
