Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

BP Oil Spill: Dolphins Plagued By Death, Disease Years After Rig Explosion

Missing teeth. Lung disease. Extreme hormone levels.

Four years after BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, gushing some 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the region is rife with death and disease, according to a major U.S. study.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, is the first of its kind since the devastating spill.

"I've never seen such a high prevalence of very sick animals," lead author Lori Schwacke of the Medical University of South Carolina noted. "There is disease in any wild population. We just haven't seen animals that were in such bad shape as what we saw in Barataria Bay."

Researchers captured 32 dolphins from the bay, a 24-km stretch near southeastern Louisiana, and deemed half of them to be seriously ill or dying.

Among the cases? Liver disease, crippling pneumonia and even a pregnant female carrying a dead fetus.

For its part, BP insists its hands are clean -- and has poured millions into rehabilitating the region.

In a company statement, BP said: "Symptoms observed in the study have been seen in other dolphin mortality events that have been related to contaminants and conditions found in the northern Gulf, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), DDT and pesticides.

"Any increase in reported mortality observations after the spill may simply reflect an increase in the number of observers in the Gulf and an increased awareness among Gulf residents rather than an actual increase in dolphin deaths."

The study results, according to BP, are "inconclusive as to any causation associated with the spill."

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca/
Author: The Huffington Post Canada

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