UPDATE (Jun 27): Since posting this I’ve heard from some contacts in Alaska who firmly disagree with CNN’s assessment that “most of the Exxon Valdez oil spill workers are dead.” There are quite a few who have died, and there was one ship in particular on which everyone died. It was called the “death ship” locally.

From Dr. Riki Ott: About ten years ago, a grad student named Annie O’Neill completed a pilot study which is posted on Riki’s web site. She surveyed workers from the Exxon Valdez who had reported Upper Respiratory Illness during the EVOS cleanup. There were 6,722 cases of URI out of 13,000 people on the clean up.

In 2003, Christina Cinelli did a followup study that found roughly one third of the 6,722 people self reported lingering illnesses. That would be approx 2200 people. The ONLY way to determine the information like that quoted on the CNN clip is through a full-blown epidemiology study, which we have been encouraging for years – but which has never been done. We have no way to determine how many of those 6,722 are living or dead, and further, no means to determine cause of death.

No question that illnesses abound even today from unprotected exposure to both oil and Corexit, but I wanted to insert this alternate view point from local Alaskans, in the face of mainstream media looking for soundbites.

Begin original post: I’ve been telling you all that many, many of the workers during Exxon Valdez became chronically ill. Many of them continue to be chronically ill today, those who are still alive, that is, and those appear to be few. The average life span of an oil spill clean up worker after Exxon Valdez was reported to be 51 years. Marine Toxicologist and Exxon Valdez survivor Dr. Riki Ott talks of worker illness as well, and announced during the community meeting in Pensacola, Florida Monday night that she is making her book, Not One Drop – Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, available to folks on the gulf coast for only the cost of shipping.

Meeting Riki was a wonderful experience for me personally. She exemplifies a true Alaskan woman, with a quiet confidence and calm strength that easily conveys her authority. I watched her interact with a group of terrified oil-impacted citizens in Pensacola for hours, never tiring and never once checking the time. As the evening wore on and the group dwindled, Riki pulled up a chair and sat in the midst of them, listening intently, encouraging them to talk with each other, to make contacts, to form and organize their own group and to demand more from BP and from the government agencies tasked with representing them.

I was deeply touched by how passionate Riki is about helping the people on the gulf coast, freely giving of her time and doing whatever it takes to educate the citizens and raise awareness about the dispersant use and human health and safety throughout this crisis.

To that end, Riki knows very well about the ongoing illnesses left across Alaska following Exxon Valdez. Here is the website of a very outspoken clean up worker from Valdez, Merle Savage. Silence in the Sound, which describes in detail her experiences during and after the Exxon Valdez clean up. More to come on this topic.

My deepest gratitude to Dr. Riki Ott for working so hard to help educate and connect folks across the entire oil-impacted region of the gulf coast. Your work is very important and so greatly appreciated.