Global Research

BP is gassing Gulf Coast residents with poisonous Benzene and Corexit dispersants at dangerously high levels in the largest U.S. domestic military operation to date. The military and FEMA are engaged in Emergency Plans for 36 urban areas from Texas to Florida due to the unstoppable Gulf oil volcano the size of Mt. Everest, as WMR reports, indicating evacuations. Some people are advised to relocate now. (See Parts III and IV)

Satellite imagery that Obama’s administration withheld shows “under the gaping chasm spewing oil at an ever-alarming rate is a cavern estimated to be around the size of Mount Everest. This information has been given an almost national security-level classification to keep it from the public,” writes Wayne Madsen.

Human suffering in the Gulf is increasing from the world’s latest and largest toxic oil kill as BP lies and government remains silent about the human health risks. Most immediately damaging of the operation’s withheld information pertains to toxins breathed since the explosion.

Southerners reporting illnesses with symptoms reflecting Benzene and Corexit poisoning have had to face some leaders suggesting the cause to be mental illness, “stress”, while others, such as BP chief Tony Hayward, blamed the illness on rotten food.

Hayward is the guy who sold his £1.4 million shares in BP one month before the Gulf “spill.” This in turn caused a collapse of value and a saving to him of over £423,000 when BP’s share price plunged after its predicted destruction in the gulf according to the Telegraph. (Since Hayward’s pay package of £4 million a year had been insufficient, cashing out enabled him to pay off the mortgage on his family’s mansion in Kent.) 

No monitors, no dispersant toxicity studies

Other life-risking withheld information is that chemicals released have not been monitored. WMR colleague John Caylor, a Gulf Coast resident, reported, “BP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which have stated that several hundred air quality monitors have been deployed around the Florida and Alabama coasts and have not detected any benzene levels that would be harmful to human health, are lying.” (WMR, EPA and media lying about air monitors on Gulf coast, June 7-8, 2010)

A senior news source at WEAR-TV, ABC’s affiliate in Pensacola told Caylor that “there are no air quality monitors that have been deployed along the coastal bays and inlets by either BP or the EPA. The station sent reporters out to check on the monitors and discovered they were non-existent.” (Emphasis added)

“ABC News network out of New York and CNN are echoing the BP and Obama administration’s lines that the air quality is being monitored and is perfectly safe,” wrote Caylor. WWL TV reports monitors  are  being now used in south Louisiana. (See video #2 below)

The spewing oil and dispersant chemicals are toxic enough for so many people to become ill, evacuation would be required, especially before a hurricane blows the lethal cocktail over more Southerners. Hurricane season 2010, anticipated to be highly active and strong, will bring the oil and ipersant chemicals further inland, impacting health of too many people to be ignored. Already, even mainstream news reports 70 people in Louisiana have been admitted to hospital with symptoms of toxic poisoning. New Orleans area officials have urged people without means to evacuate before a hurricane to register now.

“Get a game plan now,” WWL reported.

Corexit and Benzene Gulf gas combo effects

On May 1, two U.S. Department of Defense C-130 Hercules aircraft were employed to spray oil dispersant, Corexit EC9500A and Corexit EC9527A. Dispersant information, however, was “kept secret under competitive trade laws.”

The stated purpose of using more chemicals on the chemical spill was “to break up the oil into tiny droplets that sink and can be more readily dispersed by ocean currents, to diminish the oil’s effect on sea life and shore habitats.” (New York Times, BP and EPA Skirmish Over Oil Dispersant, May 24, 2010) Mother Nature’s non-chemical, safe, effective bio-remediation method (see Youtube below) of disposing of the oil was dismissed. Safe and effective solutions for human and environmental survival are not part of the agenda.

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) “Fact sheets” page for Nalco’s Corexit has pdfs available for “Dispersant Type 1,” Corexit 9500 (PDF); and “Dispersant Type 2,” Corexit 9527A (PDF). Tom Philpott of Grist, who found that these product numbers matched those identified unofficially by his sources, writes,

“The data sheets for both products contain this shocker: ‘No toxicity studies have been conducted on this product” — meaning testing their safety for humans and both data sheets include the warning ‘human health hazards: acute.'”

(As Philpott reported, the MSDS for Corexit 9527A states

‘excessive exposure may cause central nervous system effects, nausea, vomiting, anesthetic or narcotic effects,’ and ‘repeated or excessive exposure to butoxyethanol [an active ingredient] may cause injury to red blood cells (hemolysis), kidney or the liver.’

‘”Prolonged and/or repeated exposure through inhalation or extensive skin contact with EGBE [butoxyethanol] may result in damage to the blood and kidneys.'”

The solvents 2-Butoxyethanol and petroleum distillate appear “most dangerous,” writes Philpott, but these chemicals continue to be saturating water and air.

Out of work shrimper, oil clean-up work Clint Guidry reported, “The closest I got [to the Gulf water] was Venice, Louisiana, and you could smell it from Venice… they were actually spraying Corexit 9527A on the oil spill on top of the water and spraying all around – Venice sits on a peninsula, the Mississippi River, right at the – right above the Head of the Passes.

“And they were actually spraying this Corexit in the air all around where people were living, with kids and children, and continuously saying how safe it was.”

By May 24, New York Times reported that 700,000 US gallons (2,600,000 l) of Corexit dispersants had gassed the area, “approaching a world record.” BP was ordered to take “immediate steps to scale back the use of dispersants” that the military was reportedly spraying. Both entities seemingly follow orders from a higher command. Chemical gassing of Gulf life continued.

Benzene, or  “swamp gas,” the toxin released by fossil fuel oil, is lethal enough for public health concern and action without Corexit. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that benzene causes severe human injury such as chromosomal, and is a human carcinogen. Exposure to high levels of benzene is associated with leukemia cancer: acute myelogenous leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, and chronic myelogenous leukemia. (See: 0.9977 Benzene (IARC Summary & Evaluation, Supplement7, 1987)

Benzene-related leukemias have been reported to develop in as short as nine months according to IARC.

The satiation of toxic air, water and food has posed serious health risks to all people of the Gulf, but especially to pregnant women, the elderly and people with health vulnerabilities such as asthma and emphysema. Gina Solomon, NRDC Senior Scientist outlined health risks Louisianians and other Gulf Coast residents face.

Only days after BPs greatest oil assault began, Solomon recommended that pregnant women leave the oil spill area since fossil fuel oil toxins cause miscarriages.

Oil spill VOC (volatile chemicals) acute health effects include “headaches, dizziness and nausea,” and “[o]ver the long term, many of these chemicals have been linked to cancer, so there are lots of reasons to worry about inhaling them,” advised Solomon. (Dupre, Hitting rock bottom calls for intervention, Examiner, May 9, 2010) The first nine Gulf spill workers were hospitalized for “dizziness, headaches and nausea” as Solomon predicted weeks before according to VOC effects, plus shortness of breath and nosebleeds, likely symptomatic of Corexit.

Adding fire to the fuel, burning the slick as the petrochemical-military-industrial complex are also doing,  has compounded the public health risk. Dr. Marcel Casavant, chief of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, has stated, “Smoke from burning oil contains many chemicals; some are potentially lethal poisons…” (ABC News, BP Gulf Oil Spill: Human Health Risks Small But Fears May Linger) Casavant indicates those at greatest risk are children.

Oil toxic poisoning does not always have immediate impact. One study showed that the effect is generational: women exposed to oil toxins have daughters with reproductive health problems, such as miscarriages. (See: Dupre, FUEL DVD countdown to end old, dirty, dangerous, corrupt business, Examiner, May 11. 2010; and Josh Tickell, FUEL, 2009)

Within days of the Gulf incident, the smell of oil was so strong in coastal deep south, it was reported that one lady had to shut all her windows, turn on her AC and “if her asthma keeps up like this, she’ll need to go on her breathing machine tonight.” Meanwhile, police were driving up and down the beach “explicitly telling tourists to ‘just stay out of the water.'” (It’s BP’s Oil, Mother Jones, May 24, 2010) That was almost a month ago. How is she now?

Harassed for attempted survival

CNN reported that commercial shrimper working on the “clean-up,” John Wunstell Jr. filed a temporary restraining order in federal court against BP to stop its harassment of workers that voice health concerns. He “wants the oil giant to give the workers masks.” Among first reported workers hospitalized for oil/gas injury, Wuntsell alleges that BP confiscated his clothing stripped from him in the hospital, and told him that they would not be returned. This story is eerily similar to those of Nazi gas chambers.

Louisiana Shrimpers Association also accused BP of threatening to fire fisherman from cleanup jobs if they complain about health problems or wear masks. (See Gulf Spill Workers Hopsitalized, Restraining Orders sought, News Inferno) Clean-up worker fishermen were not given respirators, “not even those working in the most dangerous area, closest to the well still spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico,” reported Guidry.

Such negative public relations for corporatism has almost been blacked-out. Gulf Coast residents lack information about serious risks BP’s poisons are inflicting on them. Solomon’s words of warning were a silenced clarion call to Gulf residents.

Another mild warning for Louisinans was finally offered today. A New Iberia, Louisiana chemist, Wilma Subra advised in a WWL TV new report (Youtube video below) that people experiencing ill health effects from the gassing should relocate, “move out of the area.”

Regardless of presidential or other statements about holding accountable those responsible for the latest oil assault on humanity, the U.S. military objective in the Gulf for its ultimate goal of Full Spectrum Dominance has been achieved.

Gulf Coast residents and The World Can’t Wait calling a Gulf Emergency Summit  for citizens to take charge of the Gulf crisis face U.S. military and BP’s hired private army mercenaries, similar to during Katrina’s aftermath.

The military now controls one of  the nation’s most important ports, its most inland port, Baton Rouge, and the nation’s largest river, the Mighty Mississippi. These are primary resources required in the Pentagon’s quest for total control of “land sea, and air superiority.” (See USSPACECOM’s Vision for 2020, and www.spacecom.af.mil/usspace)

On June 2, 2000, Defense News reported that “Full-spectrum dominance” is the key term in “Joint Vision 2020,” the blueprint DoD will follow in the future” and that ” Innovation has always been a hallmark of the American military. In 2020, this native American talent will be even more important.” For those who dare look, the Gulf operation has been a demonstration of such innovation.

Deepwater Unified Command Gulf Operation

In its quesst for the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. military innovation enabled it to seize control of Haiti within hours of its earthquake, then the entire Gulf after the “spill,” and now, in secret maneuvers will soon include more U.S. coastal land and inhabitants according to WMR. (See Gassed in the Gulf Part I) The petro-chemical-military industrial complex includes BP’s “security firm” Wackenhut, hired as a private army to help control the people of the Gulf region, hide Gulf atrocities and control the region through the ‘Deepwater Horizon Unified Command military operation.

Jeremy Scahill reports that Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, and her husband, Avi Lewis, host of al Jazeera English’s popular program Fault Lines, described a “run in” with Wackenhut, hired for “perimeter security” for the Deepwater Horizon Command. (Jeremy Scahill, BP and US Government ‘Command Center’ Guarded by Company from Afghan Embassy Hazing Scandal, May 28, 2010)

A foreign company, British Petroleum and U.S. government agencies, including the US Coast Guard, Department of Defense, Department of State, and Department of Homeland Security are running Deepwater Unified Command according to Scahill.

Wayne Madsen reports that “36 urban areas on the Gulf of Mexico are expecting to be confronted with a major disaster from the oil volcano” and “emergency plans are being made for cities and towns from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Houston, New Orleans, Gulfport, Mobile, Pensacola, Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater, Sarasota-Bradenton, Naples, and Key West.”

Citing sources within the US Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, and Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Madsen asserts that “the Obama White House and British Petroleum are covering up the magnitude of the volcanic-level oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and working together to limit BP’s liability for damage caused by what can be called a ‘mega-disaster.” Florida is preparing to evacuate, with FEMA taking the lead.

For this operation to succeed, mainstream media must participate in the PR campaign, (propaganda) since most Americans still believe and even center their lives around their TVs. An example of mainstream “news” propaganda presented was the reporting of BP containing one of the leaks. Madsen stated it was “pure public relations disinformation designed to avoid panic and demands for greater action by the Obama administration, according to FEMA and Corps of Engineers sources.”

Gulf military operation LYHOP or MYHOP

A “spill” reflects an accident. BP’s reported “spill,” actually an underwater oil volcano, was either a LYHOP, a Let It Happen On Purpose, or a MYHOP, a Make It Happen On Purpose. Both are false flag operations to further justify military control on U.S. soil in the already existing coup that began during the Bush administration in October 2008 when US troops were deployed for duty on U.S. soil.

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before,” said Rahm Emanual and David Rockefeller has said, “All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.” 

It has also been said that fascism will come when the people ask for it. Now that BP admits it cannot control the Gulf crisis, will the American people ask for military control, be grateful for it, or at least simply continue allowing its latest major step  in “full spectrum” control, same as Americans allowed passage of the USA PATRIOT ACT after 911?

The gulf crisis was predicted if not planned by more than one person knowing human and other life  would  be injured or killed. Exxon Mobil Chairman Rex Tillerson told a House of Representatives subcommittee that BP’s operation was “a dramatic departure from the industry norm in deepwater drilling.”

The explosion’s cause is attributed to a $500,000. missing piece of equipment, an acoustic switch, required in other countries. With G.W. Bush’s deregulations, the Gulf operation could proceed without the safety equipment, leading to military intervention. New York Times reports that during a Congressional hearing, members learned that BP also decided not to conduct a “cement bond log” test that would have measured the cement’s strength. Halliburton Energy Services was producer of the casing being run and cemented. This company knows how to make a profit. It is the same company profiting most from U.S. illegal Middle East invasions, Hurricane Katrina and Haiti’s earthquake.

Soon after the Gulf explosion, oil workers requesting anonymity report that they heard a telephone conversation in which the head of the rig was crying while telling the other party on the phone, “We knew this was going happen. Are you satisfied now?”

Since the explosion, “Louisiana and Florida have essentially begged for help, to no avail. Governor Jindal said with emotion, ‘We need more boom, more skimmers, more jack-up barges,’ reports Houston Homeland Security Examiner, Lou Gallio, adding, “Louisiana, however, has received only a fraction of the supplies it requested to protect itself.”

Add the BP chief Tony Hayward selling his shares one week before the explosion. (See Gassed in the Gulf, Part I) What has become a U.S. military operation increasingly appears to have been a LYHOP, if not a MYHOP false flag black operation.

“To the rescue” military innovation

During the fake but profitable H1N1 swine flu pandemic, troops were moved into five regional areas, ready for action. At that time, Ron Paul stated, “The stage is set for our country to be in remnant status… to evolve into a military dictatorship” in which few are aware of seriousness of this and “few seem to care.” (Video) Now, six thousand troops have moved into the southern area for a long-term Gulf operation with more on standby according to Defense News.

Defense News reports that Army Col. Patrick R. Bossetta, commander of State Aviation Command in Hammond, La. stated that the operation tempo is almost as high as Louisiana aviation units deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan experienced. (Department of Defense News, Louisiana Aviators Battle Oil Spill, Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul C. Meeker 241st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

The Deepwater Horizon drill rig exploded, killed 11 platform workers and injured 17 others on April 20, 2010. By May 16, USNORTHCOM was preparing military operations within the U.S., working with DHS, state and local law enforcement on U.S. soil. (See: Maj. Dale Greer: 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs, Units make history with Air Force’s first homeland defense ORI, June 3, 2010, located on Intelhub.com)

“We’re thinking ahead over the long term” said Army Maj. Gen. Abner C. Blalock, Alabama’s adjutant general during a DoD roundtable. “[A]ssets from Missouri and Illinois have been tapped to support operations in Louisiana through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.” (Department of Defense News, States Prepare to Help Louisiana, Army Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, National Guard Bureau) “Six months” in Afghanistan occupation time means years.

Regrettably for some 911 survivors offended by the comparison, as during the 911 false flag black operation, hiding evidence is paramount to mission success. A prime example of this during the 911 black operation was Bush’s demand for a fake investigation. The Gulf operation evidence is being hidden. As noted in Part I of this series, military personnel and mercenaries have blocked journalists from the Gulf area and BP has coerced oil spill responders to sign contracts preventing them from talking to the press about their observations in the region.

In the 911 black operation designed to further fascism by catapulting the war on terror, early stage response workers were not provided preventive gear and therefore breathed toxic dust. Today, oil assault response workers are breathing toxins and not provided preventive gear.  BP spokesman Darren Beaudo claims constant air quality monitoring, by boats and wearable “badges” worn by supervisors on boats in areas judged the most dangerous, show no air quality problem and no need for workers to wear masks, all untrue according to reports highlighted in Part I of this series.

Years of military intervention are now needed in the U.S. because the Gulf emergency is greater than the public has been informed and the military needs control of the Gulf. Wayne Madsen reports that “when the Army Corps of Engineers first attempted to obtain NASA imagery of the Gulf oil slick — which is larger than that being reported by the media — it was turned down. However, National Geographic managed to obtain the satellite imagery shots of the extent of the disaster and posted them on their web site.”

“BP is the operator and principal developer of the Macondo Prospect with 65% of interest, while 25% is owned by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, and 10% by MOEX Offshore 2007, a unit of Mitsui. (Wikipedia)

Deepwater Horizon was a 9-year-old, massive, floating semi-submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU), built by Hyundai Heavy Industries with supposed capacity to operate in waters up to 8,000 feet (2,400 m) deep and drill down to 30,000 feet (9,100 m) drilling an exploratory well at approximately 1,500 meters in the Macondo Prospect located in the Mississippi Canyon Block 252. This prospect is in the United States “exclusive economic zone,” about 41 miles (66 km) off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico.  “It was owned by Transocean under the Marshalese flag of convenience, under lease to BP until September 2013.” (Wikipedia)

BP’s Gulf exploration dangers were known for years. Explaining technological requirements for oil companies to drill as deeply as intended for fossil fuels in the Gulf, in the movie, FUEL, Ken Hern, now chairman of the board of Homeland Renewable Energy, emphatically alerts, “It would be easier to send a man to the moon than to drill as deep as they are planning.”

People of integrity, from Van Jones and oil rig supervisors to the UN Renewable Energy Ambassador of Goodwill Josh Tickell and a host of other environmentalist leaders, tried to prevent the Gulf disaster. They could have succeeded in saving lives and the planet if powers that be want that. 

Instead, in disregard of the weary, the poor, the downtrodden, mainly people of color in the South, the power elite have been quietly moving towards full and total control. They and the military who serve them are like the Mississippi River itself, Paul Robeson’s Ol’ Man River, looking the other way, knowing but acting as if unaware of human suffering.

“He don’t say nothin’. He just keeps rollin’ along.”

Deborah Dupré  has been a human rights advocate and environmentalist for over 25 years in the U.S., Vanuatu and Australia. Support her work by subscribing to her articles (free). For a more just and peaceful world, see Dupré’s Vaccine Liberty or Death book plus her Compassion Film Project DVDs.