Source:
IPSBATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Nov 1, 2010 (IPS) - Gulf coast fishers, conservationists, seafood distributors and oil workers rallied here at Louisiana's capital over the weekend to demand that oil giant BP be held accountable for the "ongoing" use of toxic dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico.
"We don't have the open sores and blisters caused by BP's toxic dispersants that the people in Plaquemine's Parish have," Karen Hopkins from Grand Isle, Louisiana told IPS. "We are being poisoned by BP's same dispersants, but our symptoms are more lethargy and depression symptoms caused by chemical poisoning."
Hopkins, who works for Dean Blanchard Seafood, a large and well-known seafood distributor, was a member of the Oct. 30 Rally for Gulf Change, whose organisers said they were working towards "preserving our God-given rights to clean air and water for future generations."
Drew Landry, who describes himself as "a songwriter who works for a commercial craw-fisherman", told IPS that he first grew concerned about BP's mishandling of the oil disaster, which began on Apr. 20 when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, by what he saw the oil giant do the following day.
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