Exclusive: Gulf Plague survivors being radiated - National Human Rights Examiner.com

Exclusive: Gulf Plague survivors being radiated

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Deborah Dupre

, Human Rights Examiner

April 29, 2011 - Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates.

Corexit is not the only killer loose from the Gulf Operation, commonly called "BP's Oil Spill 2010." A new report by environmental attorney Stuart Smith emphasizes that radiation amounts from the Gulf oil gusher are larger than discussed. In an exclusive interview, head of Gulf Coast Barefoot Doctors, Delia Labarre reported that radiation poisoning signs are what suffering Gulf people typically exhibit.
Small traces of radioactivity can prove deadly.
Smith's report title reflects the Gulf state of affairs, "Chernobyl in the Gulf", an accurate term according to head of Gulf Barefoot Doctor, Delia LaBarre. For almost a year, LaBarre has been witnessing people with "Gulf Plague," also called "BP Flu," "BP Crud," or "Blue Plague." Most of them have radiation poisoning signs she said.
LaBarre has almost single-handedly provided approximately 300 Survival Kits to Gulf Plague victims over the past year.
Ongoing atrocities in the Gulf that Smith lists since on-start of the Gulf Operation, that former top oil executive Ian Crane evidences as planned for depopulation include:

Residents up and down the Gulf Coast report tar balls and mats continue to litter beaches
Re-oilings are common
The multi-billion-dollar Gulf seafood industry is reeling from contamination
Dead dolphins and sea turtles wash ashore at record-breaking rates
Oyster beds are devastated
Increasingly large numbers of Gulf coast people and clean-up workers 'are getting sick.'

Oil production produces radiation
Oil production releases radiation. Oil waste is ladened with radiation. These radioactive elements include but are not limited to radium, thorium and uranium, all now in the Gulf Region in unprecedented dangerous amounts according to Smith.
Radioactive elements are typically extracted from the ground with oil and gas and then separated from the fossil fuels, all part of the daily production process to make the array of oil-based goods westerners use daily, from plastic to car fuel.

"Once the NORM [naturally occurring radioactive materials] is extracted, it is flushed directly back into the ocean in the waste-stream byproduct known as produced water. Their discharge into the Gulf of Mexico has been a daily reality since the 1950s – but the amount that was released into the water from the runaway Macondo Well is unprecedented."

Even a small amount of radioactive material can have a devastating impact on humans unfortunate enough to come into direct contact with it according to Smith.
Ground Zero workers familiar with radiation poisoning signs
"Reports of unexplained health problems are soaring... [f]rom flu-like symptoms to blindness to intense chest pain to severe sinus inflammation, people across the Gulf region are reporting debilitating illnesses in the wake of the spill."
Radiation poisoning symptoms include: neurological problems such as memory loss; headaches and balance problems; seizures; stomach and digestive problems such as diarrhea; sweating; dizziness; nosebleeds and bleeding from ears, rectum and urinary tract; trouble sleeping; and rashes or skin irritations.
"We've had reports on all these symptoms," LaBarre reported Friday. "They've been well documented."
Most people have assumed that Corexit has been the cause of the illnesses, but, LaBarre said that these "very well may be caused by radiation exposure, as Smith says," adding, "This information has definitely been covered up."
Smith's report was partially based on Dr. Chris Busby's research project.
As Dupré reported after the untimely death of oil guru Matt Simmons, "Heeding his call for evacuation soon after the explosion would have helped prevent ongoing chemical and radiation poisoning of thousands of children and adults now being poorly treated. It would have helped prevent the 'heavy resident death toll' that Simmons predicted. ("Gulf oil whistleblower, renewable energy guru Matt Simmons RIP (videos)", Examiner.com)
In September, this writer reported "Arnesen is among the thousands of children and adults suffering blistering lesions, a symptom of radiation sickness [and] Corexit but typically diagnosed, by medicos offering no blood tests, as "staph infections" and "scabies." (See: Radiation Test Results On Gulf Crude Oil (video) - Page 5, Jun 19, 2010, Radiation Test Results On Gulf Crude Oil (video) - Page 3, Jun 18, 2010, Radiation Test Results On Gulf Crude Oil (video) - Page 2, Jun 18, 2010, RADIATION SICKNESS - Know the symptoms - Protect yourself, Godlike Productions, in "Censored Gulf news: Voice from inside Ochsner Hospital")
Information on radiation and genetically-engineered oil-eating bacteria introduced into the Gulf have yet to receive attention they deserve according to LaBarre who said, "It took a year to get people on board against the use of chemical dispersants," she said. "Hopefully it won't take another year to make people aware of these serious threats and causes of wildlife and human health problems."
Smith recommends that people with poisoning symptoms seek medical help. In a prepared statement, LaBarre asserted that Gulf Coast people need to be their own doctors:

While seeking medical help for any such symptoms is sound advice, we know that trying to find a doctor who will not dismiss their symptoms as caused by chemical or radiation exposure, or infection from Pseudomonas alcaligenes (oil-eating bacteria) has been an exercise in futility, and many doctors, even if they acknowledge the symptoms as being possibly caused by one or more of the above, they are more often than not at a loss as to how to treat the patient.
Until they either receive training or consult with environmental health doctors or otherwise educate themselves in appropriate treatment, people will have to be their own doctor until appropriate medical help is located or offered. Symptoms should at the very least be documented by medical professionals and entered into a personal journal.

Fukushima's radiation entering Gulf water, air, land and bodies is possibly posing new legal challenges for proving which Big Energy source is spreading it, but according to LaBarre, everyone needs to be detoxing because Fukushima's radiation is reportedly falling throughout the US and has already entered the food chain.
"Over 100,000 Gulf people are already plague victims" and "hundreds of millions more will be impacted" according to experts.
The hopeful news? Barefoot Docs head said:

"Fortunately, if people are following recommendations for radiation exposure by doctors like Mark Sircus, Ac, O.M.D. and Gabriela Segura, M.D., medical toxicologists Janet Starr Hull, Ph.D. and Hildegarde Staninger, Ph.D., and nutritionist Sayer Ji, they are protecting themselves against these toxic onslaughts."

It is LaBarre's hope that Gulf region doctors will look seriously at the above named professionals' guidelines coupled with Smith's statements, and "educate themselves on how best to diagnose and treat their patients for these environmental toxins making so many sick."

"The system of barefoot doctors was among the most important inspirations for the WHO conference in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan in 1978 where the Alma Ata Declaration was signed unanimously." Hailed as a revolutionary breakthrough in international health ideology, this declaration called for local communities participating in deciding health care priorities, an emphasis on primary health care and preventive medicine. (Wikipedia)

David Werner refined the barefoot doctor concept used widely in developing nations and communities - now including America's Gulf Coast. He authored the barefoot doctor "bible," Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Healthcare Handbook, and among others, a book about how to train trainers to use the system. ("Censored Gulf news: Where angels fear to tread Barefoot Doctors serve," Dupré, D. Examiner.com)
Guidelines included in Gulf Barefoot Doctors Survival Detox Kit are all natural: sodium bicarbonate, magnesium sulfate, betonite clay, activated charcoal, nascent iodine, magnesium oil, and vitamins C and B-complex; superfoods with spirulina; and antioxidant teas and foods. They detoxify the body and also reinforce the immune system.
Dumping radiation while good times roll - for those yet to suffer
Oil's radioactive by-products are nothing new to Smith who has previously noted the NYT series launched February 27 detailing radioactive wastewater, another Halliburton-developed extraordinaire called “fracking,” dumping radiation with impunity across the country, an issue Smith is taking on in relation to the Gulf Coast region, good news for Gulf coasters and anti-fracking leaders. ("Prominent environment atty targets fracking radiation injuring Gulf Peoples," Dupré, D. National Human Rights, Examiner.com)
The Times article uncovered what Smith called "a bombshell 'secret industry study'" from the American Petroleum Institute (API) about dangers of Gulf seafood, He wrote:

"The study, written in 1990, states that consuming seafood from the Gulf of Mexico poses “potentially significant risks” of cancer to humans due to the radium levels in produced water discharges. The EPA has yet to publicly release a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the volume of produced water being discharged in the Gulf of Mexico or its effect on human and marine life.

Promoting the "Safe Gulf Myth," Louisiana's U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, recently stated, "We think petroleum and shrimp go well together. We even have a Petroleum and Shrimp festival."
Do such merry-makers also think uranium goes well with shrimp?
Have law-makers halted offshore drilling since the Gulf oil event, the greatest environmental catastrophe in history?
To Smith's comments that major offshore installations are either in place or planned for South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Arctic Ocean region and, "The very health of our planet’s oceans is at stake," LaBarre said, "Resisting offshore drilling and fracking are the best protection to halt these dangerous practices."
As more professionals note that combined poisons including high levels of radiation are saturating Gulf air, water, land and food, perhaps more Gulf residents will choose intensive detoxing to survive longer, or reach out to find a way for voluntary relocation.
It is more likely, however, that increasing numbers of Gulf residents will lay dying while their elected leaders will still be saying, "Laissez les bon temps roulez," (Let the good times role).

Learn more: Visit Gulf Coast Barefoot Doctors website to learn how to contribute, to help save lives in the Gulf Coast Region. Download Jeff Rense's free ebook, "Coming Clean: From Denial to Detox, Real Tools to Build Hope in the Gulf."