By Marian Wang
Getting statistics on worker illness related to the Gulf oil spill is proving to be difficult, as federal agencies continually refer requests either to another federal agency or to BP.
When we asked for statistics on health complaints related to the Gulf spill, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told us to ask the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA has told us to ask BP. The Environmental Protection Agency recommended via e-mail that we contact someone at the Department of Homeland Security. When we called the EPA back to confirm that the agency is not itself keeping these statistics, the same spokeswoman who told us to ask elsewhere said, “I’d have to clarify on that. Let me check on that.”
When we called the BP press office seeking statistics, BP spokesman Max McGahan confirmed the existence of the data:
Read entire blog here.
Tags: BP, Gulf oil spill, OSHA
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 10th, 2010 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Journalism, News/Commentary/Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
ProPublica Blog: Government and BP Unresponsive on Requests for Data on Sick Cleanup Workers
By Marian Wang
Getting statistics on worker illness related to the Gulf oil spill is proving to be difficult, as federal agencies continually refer requests either to another federal agency or to BP.
When we asked for statistics on health complaints related to the Gulf spill, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told us to ask the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA has told us to ask BP. The Environmental Protection Agency recommended via e-mail that we contact someone at the Department of Homeland Security. When we called the EPA back to confirm that the agency is not itself keeping these statistics, the same spokeswoman who told us to ask elsewhere said, “I’d have to clarify on that. Let me check on that.”
When we called the BP press office seeking statistics, BP spokesman Max McGahan confirmed the existence of the data:
Read entire blog here.
Tags: BP, Gulf oil spill, OSHA
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 10th, 2010 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Journalism, News/Commentary/Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.