Toxic Chemical Dispersants Used on Gulf Oil Spill Endangers Marine Life and Cleanup Workers

Interview with Wilma Subra, chemist and consultant to the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Six weeks after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, no substantive progress has been made in stopping the oil that's gushing from a mile below the surface waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The top kill method, the latest maneuver employed by British Petroleum to stop the leak, failed.

According to many scientists and environmentalists the oil, along with the toxic dispersants that have been used to break up the spill, have polluted the water column - descending to the seabed where bottom residing organisms such as shrimp, crabs and oysters are found. The spill has also fouled Louisiana's shoreline estuaries and threatens the coasts of neighboring states. BP's oil blowout, the largest in U.S. history, has already had a severe environmental and economic impact on one of the richest fisheries in the continental U.S., which supplies one third of the seafood consumed by Americans.

Wilma Subra is a Louisiana chemist and founder of the Subra Company, a chemistry lab and environmental consulting firm that provides technical support to the Louisiana Environmental Action Network. She is a past recipient of a MacArthur fellowship grant, the so-called "genius award." Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Subra, who discusses her concerns about the toxicity of the oil and dispersants on people exposed to them during the clean up -- as well as the long-term impact of the oil spill on the environment.

For updated information on the leak and its impact on local communities, call the Louisana Environmental Action Network (228) 928-1315, or visit the group's website at www.leanweb.org.

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LISTEN to the interview by clicking on one of the links below:

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"Between The Lines" is a half-hour syndicated radio news magazine that each week features a summary of under-reported news stories and interviews with activists and journalists who offer progressive perspectives on international, national and regional political, economic and social issues. Because "Between The Lines" is independent of all publications, media networks or political parties, we are able to bring a diversity of voices to the airwaves generally ignored or marginalized by the major media. For more information on this week's topics and to check out our text archive listing topics and guests presented in previous programs visit: www.btlonline.org
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