"I have practically nothing to eat, we have lived through the river all our lives and the contamination has already reached the Magdalena," one resident tells local media.

Toxic Spills

Did Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup Make Things Worse? April 18, 2015 - In this exclusive interview, ocean explorer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Bob Ballard shares his insights on the impacts of the April 20, 2010, Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill as well as the cleanup efforts, particularly the use of dispersants.



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"Why Did ‘Shocking' Amounts of BP Oil Fall to the Seafloor?"

- In this exclusive interview, ocean explorer and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Bob Ballard shares his insights on the impacts of the April 20, 2010, Gulf of Mexicooil spill as well as the cleanup efforts, particularly the use of dispersants.Click here to read more:

"When oil spills happen, just coming into contact with oil in the short term has incredibly horrible side-effects," Wolff says.

Oil spills not only affect the flora and fauna of the environment, but farmland as well. Contaminated fields prevent locals from cultivating the land, and chemically poisoned fish—a protein-packed dietary staple—must be taken out of the diet.

In addition to the symptoms reported by the Colombian locals, people suffering from oil contamination can experience respiratory issues, skin rashes, fatigue, and seemingly undiagnosed illnesses lasting months or years. Spill-related conditions can also kill children. (Related: "Gulf Oil Spill Helps Explain Air Pollution Mystery")

Wolff adds that it can take days for local government to get involved right after a spill, so community members are often left to try to clean up their environment without adequate protection. Not enough studies have been done on the lasting consequences of oil spills, she says, since government intervention normally stops 60 days after the initial spill.

"There is continual danger for years and years of what’s in the fish and what's in the water," Wolff says. "If you ruin the water and the land that people depend on, their livelihood is gone."

Hope for the Future

Local and international attention can shed light on oil spills and their consequences, ultimately helping communities recover over time.

"Usually, people are just really angry or upset for a long time to come," Wolff says. She adds that cases locals brought to court about the Peruvian oil spills "kind of sent the message to the country that people were not OK with this."

She says long-term medical care and financial support are crucial for helping communities respond to these types of disasters, as are support and recognition from the government.

Oil-Eating Bacteria Could Be a Solution to Spill Cleanups April 18, 2015 —Five years after the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill, oil remains on some marshland and inside plant tissues. Scientists are hoping to combat past and future spills by using oil-eating bacteria that's already naturally occurring in affected plants.

