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For The Second Time, Court Requires BP To Amend Its
Responder Contract To Protect Responders In Oil Cleanup
The
United Commercial Fisherman's
Association and its President George Barisich won an effort to seek a
Temporary Restraining Order from Judge Kurt Engelhardt, U.S. District
Court, Second District, requiring that BP take responsibility for
hazardous chemical exposure safety oversight for all commercial
fishermen employed in cleanup and mitigation services related to the
DEEPWATER HORIZON/British Petroleum crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, said
attorneys for the Gulf Oil Disaster Recovery Group.
"The primary mission of the attorneys working on behalf of the United
Commercial Fishermen's Association is to protect their health and safety
and to avoid the disastrous way in which fishermen were treated during
the Exxon Valdez crisis in Alaska," said lead counsel Stuart Smith.
"We
are thankful this motion has not been denied and the public interest in
promoting worker safety and expediting the clean-up of the environmental
disaster will be served."
In order to protect their homes and livelihood, commercial fishermen in
Louisiana and other Gulf States have volunteered to assist BP in its
clean-up efforts and have entered into agreements known as the Master
Vessel Charter Agreement (MVCA) requiring them to provide the services
of "tending or deploying boom and skimming equipment, skimming
equipment, skimming operations, recovering oil debris, collecting
garbage, assistance with wildlife operations and towing equipment."
Certain sections of the MVCA, which required fishermen to waive their
legal and other constitutional rights in order to be employed, were
declared void by the U.S. District Court earlier this week because of
emergency legal actions taken by Mr. Barisich and his attorneys. The
MVCA also put the responsibility for compliance with highly technical
safety laws relating to work with hazardous substances on the fisherman,
said Lead Counsel Stuart Smith.
"The Judge ordered a consent agreement, now court record, wherein
British Petroleum has agreed to amend the Master Vessel Charter
Agreement and take responsibility to ensure workers are properly trained
in haz-mat protocol and are provided all necessary equipment at BP's
expense," said James Garner, of Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein &
Hilbert, L.L.C.
The TRO requested BP to acknowledge that it, not the vessel owner, is
responsible for safety oversight as to hazardous chemical exposure for
services performed under the MVCA by the vessel owner and his/her
crew.
This safety oversight duty shall include, but not be limited to
the following actions:
-
(a) prepare, distribute and communicate a written safety and health
program specific to this class of workers;
- (b) prepare,
develop and implement a medical surveillance program for
this class of workers:
- (c) prepare, develop and
implement monitoring for airborne hazardous
chemicals in the areas in which these workers have been or will be
assigned to perform work;
- (d) provide information as
to the identification of the hazardous
chemical exposure risks specific to the volunteer's work and the area
in
which they have been or will be assigned to perform work;
- (e) identify
the personal protective equipment issued for persons
performing services, to whom they are being provided, and the quantity
in which they are being provided;
- (f) describe the
type of training being provided to persons
performing services under the MVCA, including copies of all
communications being made as part of that training, including but not
limited to written materials disseminated, videos shown, or prepared
remarks for speakers; and
- (g) describe the worker
notification program it intends to use for
persons performing services under the MVCA.
To
read motion for TRO: http://gulfoildisasterrecovery.com/web/index.asp?cat=court
To
see BP's MVCA: http://gulfoildisasterrecovery.com/web/index.asp?cat=DOC
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Environmental Action Network (LEAN) is a non-profit organization
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