Friday, July 9, 2010

BP Rises: Containment Coming By Monday? Gulf Workers Experience Risky Chemicals

Barron's
By Tiernan Ray

"Shares of BP (BP) got a lift this afternoon as Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen stated that a new “cap” placed on the well head would better direct the leaking oil to ships collecting the spill, raising the prospect that 60,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil could be collected daily as soon as Monday.

That would effectively contain the leak, though not stop it, said Allen.

BP shares, which traded down most of today’s session, are now up 9 cents at $33.83.

There was bad news as well today, however: Elana Schor with the New York Times’s Greenwire reports that BP has said 20% of the cleanup crew members responding to the Gulf of Mexico displayed high levels of exposure to 2-butoxyethanol, a chemical dispersant that created chronic health problems in those who worked on ExxonMobil’s (XOM) Valdez oil clean-up effort.

Schor quotes scientists as saying the announcement by BP is “worrisome” and that “Gulf air quality, if anything, seems to be deteriorating.”' Link>>>>


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