By TRAVIS LOLLER and MICHAEL PHILLIS (Associated Press)
When a deadly explosion destroyed BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, 134 million gallons of crude spilled into the sea over the following three months. Tens of thousands of ordinary people were hired to help clean up the environmental damage from the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
These workers were exposed to crude oil and the chemical dispersant Corexit while collecting tar balls along the shoreline, positioning booms from fishing boats to absorb slicks, and rescuing oil-covered birds.
BP acknowledged that some members of the cleanup crews had likely become ill, and after