A Jefferson Parish lawmaker is expected to amend legislation on the House floor this afternoon to force state officials to begin monitoring and tracking medical cases related to last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The bill by Rep. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, originally sought to make “null, void and unenforceable” all settlements and releases executed by BP that in turn let the energy giant off the hook for any future medical care or related benefits. Specifically, House Bill 389 targeted any latent illnesses or diseases that could be medically proven to be caused by the BP oil spill or its cleanup. Lawmakers, however, essentially gutted the proposal as opposition from the business community mounted. Many voiced concerns that such a provision would unravel previous tort reforms. Now Connick is hoping to change the scope of his legislation with an amendment to force state health officials to keep records of those showing signs of an ailment related to the spill.
The Louisiana Shrimp Association recently came out in support of Connick’s proposal. “Many of our Louisiana fishermen were involved in BP oil disaster response and cleanup during last year’s oil disaster and were exposed to dangerous chemicals from the oil and the poisonous dispersants and certainly are and will be suffering from this exposure now and in the future,” says LSA President Clint Guidry of Lafitte. Dr. Michael Gochfeld, professor of environmental and occupational medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, says the bill could be useful. “Once hazardous exposures have occurred, medical monitoring is a valuable tool for detecting adverse health consequences of exposures, some of which may be immediate and some of which may occur after a long latency,” he says. —Jeremy Alford
Today’s poll question: Do you support a bill that would force the state to monitor medical cases related to the BP oil spill?
