Fishermen of the Gulf States signed up to join the BP cleanup crew with their vessels, called the “Vessels of Opportunity”, after they lost their livelihood on April 22. This was their way to protect their ecosystem and find some source of income for their families, or so they thought.

Every morning they attend a briefing where they receive specific instructions for the remainder of the day. Mark and Frank Kruse, brothers of the deceased captain Allen Kruse who committed suicide last week, stated “Each day there was a different meeting with a different plan and Allen told us that this was madness.”

Captain Kruse had told his brothers that they were instructed by BP managers to take out their boats and ride around close to shore so people could see them, then bring the boats back in.

Gulf fishermen are afraid to speak on camera but quietly confirm that they receive no protective gear and no respirators from BP even when they asked on several occasions. The crews do not even get rubber gloves to protect their hands from potential skin allergies caused by the toxic mix of oil and dispersants.

They are all quiet out of fear of losing their jobs with BP which is now their only source of income. They further confirmed that BP managers have repeatedly assured the cleanup crew that the air around and above the oil spill is safe to breathe.

Many crew members have reported illnesses such as nausea and respiratory problems, but doctors refrain from pointing out that such are caused by benzene and Corexit fumes, both known to be carcinogens when inhaled.

The cleanup effort is also a very slow process and only about 25% of the current oil spill has either been burned or scooped out of the water, leaving more than 100 million gallons of oil drifting in the Gulf of Mexico and around the Eastern seaboard on its way north.

• Oil clean up is not so clean

It is not known whether the EPA has any control over the cleanup effort and whether warnings have been issued to BP to control the process in an environmentally safe fashion to protect both the crew as well as contain any cross contamination. Several disposal trucks have already been seen leaking oil on busy roads and in parking lots and are subject to heavy rainfall.

Written by Nick Doms © 2010, all rights reserved