SLS 15RS-3913 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 227
BY SENATOR CROWE
HEALTH/HOSPITALS DEPT. Requests the Dept. of Health and Hospitals to study the
medium and long range health effects of the British Petroleum Oil Spill of 2010.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to study the medium- and long-
3 term health effects of the British Petroleum oil spill on the health of the residents of
4 Louisiana.
5 WHEREAS, on April 21, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform operated for the
6 benefit of British Petroleum (BP) and located about fifty miles southeast of Southwest Pass
7 at the mouth of the Mississippi River exploded, killing eleven platform workers and
8 instigating an oil leak that continues to gush crude oil and natural gas into the depths of the
9 Gulf of Mexico in amounts not adequately measured at this point; and
10 WHEREAS, the estimates of the amount of oil and gas being leaked into the Gulf of
11 Mexico range from five thousand barrels a day to an estimate given by scientists watching
12 video of the oil and gas leak which is nearly five times the official estimate by BP, the
13 responsible party for the drilling accident; and
14 WHEREAS, several months after the spill, an estimated thirty million gallons of oil
15 had already leaked into the Gulf of Mexico, exceeding the eleven million gallons of oil that
16 resulted from the Exxon Valdez disaster; and
17 WHEREAS, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is the worst oil spill in Louisiana and
18 United States history and is the worst environmental disaster the Unites States has faced; and
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SLS 15RS-3913 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, in response to the oil spill, BP tried for months to stop oil from spewing
2 into the Gulf of Mexico; and
3 WHEREAS, BP has tried to stop the oil by using all of the following means: (1) a
4 containment dome to cover the leak and funnel the oil to the surface, which was
5 unsuccessful; (2) an insertion tube to pump oil to the surface, which at best appears to be
6 capturing only about twenty percent of the oil; (3) the "top kill" method in which viscous
7 drilling fluid is pumped into the leak, which was unsuccessful; and (4) the lower marine riser
8 package cap containment system, which required cutting off the damaged riser pipe at the
9 top of the failed blow-out preventer, and this procedure has been successful to some degree
10 but it has not completely stopped the leak; and
11 WHEREAS, as part of its oil leak response, BP has been using dispersants that
12 contain human health hazards, in particular, Corexit 9500, containing solvents that are listed
13 as hazardous substances, and Corexit 9527a, containing 2-butoxyethanol, a known acute
14 human health hazard that may cause injury to red blood cells, the kidney, or the liver; and
15 WHEREAS, under fire conditions, both of these Corexit products may evolve into
16 and emit noxious oxides, which further endangers response workers; and
17 WHEREAS, BP is simultaneously burning the oil slick and applying Corexit
18 dispersants, resulting in the poisoning of the air and water along Louisiana's coast; and
19 WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered BP to find a nontoxic
20 dispersant to use on the oil leak due to concerns about the long-term effects of Corexit; and
21 WHEREAS, BP agreed to reduce the amount of Corexit used in the Gulf of Mexico
22 but has continued to use Corexit in its response efforts; and
23 WHEREAS, in 2010 more than five hundred birds had already been found dead
24 across the leak region, and since that year more than two hundred sea turtles and thirty
25 mammals have also been discovered dead; and
26 WHEREAS, Louisiana's commercial and recreational seafood industries represent
27 four billion dollars annually in economic impact to Louisiana and its coastal communities;
28 and
29 WHEREAS, in addition to the seafood industries, Louisiana's restaurants, tourism,
30 and other small businesses have sustained economic impacts due to the oil leak; and
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SLS 15RS-3913 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, over one hundred miles of Louisiana's shoreline have been impacted by
2 oil coming ashore; and
3 WHEREAS, the efforts of BP have thus far failed to protect the coast, marshes, and
4 estuaries of Louisiana, its citizens and businesses, which failure has resulted in an economic
5 crisis for this state, its citizens and businesses; and
6 WHEREAS, the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana has serious concerns related
7 to the medium and long term effects of the BP oil spill and the use of Corexit on the health
8 of the residents of Louisiana.
9 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
10 does hereby urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to study the medium
11 and long term health effects of the British Petroleum oil spill on the health of the residents
12 of Louisiana and report back to the Senate prior to the 2016 Regular Session of the Louisiana
13 Legislature.
14 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
15 attorney general and the secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Carla S. Roberts.
DIGEST
SR 227 Original 2015 Regular Session Crowe
Urges and requests the Department of Health and Hospitals to study the medium and long
term health effects of the British Petroleum oil spill on the health of the residents of
Louisiana.
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