510 Oil, Illness, and Human Rights
Transport and storage
Oil is often spilled during transport
through pipelines, trucks, and ships. Oil
can also leak from storage tanks. These
spills may cause damage that lasts for
years to soil, groundwater, animals,
and people. Oil companies should warn
communities when a spill happens, contain
the spill, and clean it up right away. (To reduce
harm from oil spills and to learn about oil spill clean-up,
see pages 514 to 519.)
Environmental Impact Assessments for oil operations should include plans
for pipeline building and use. You can build regional support by organizing
communities along the pipeline to oppose unsafe oil company practices.
Refining
Refineries are factories where oil is made into
products such as gasoline, diesel and heating
fuels, asphalt, lubricating oils, and plastics.
Refineries release toxic waste into water,
soil, and air. Pollution from refineries leads
to asthma, bronchitis, cancer, reproductive
problems, and abnormal development of the
brain and nervous system in children.
This pollution also adds to global warming.
(For more information about how communities
can prevent and reduce harm from refineries,
see pages 455 to 458, and page 513.)
Burning oil as fuel
Burning oil and gas in factories and in
automobiles creates different kinds of air
pollution. One gas created is carbon dioxide,
which traps heat in the air. This is one of
the major causes of global warming, causing
disasters like floods, storms, droughts,
and rising seawater. It also affects crops,
animals, and insects, allowing diseases
like malaria to spread to new areas. At the
gasoline station and in crowded cities, people
are exposed to toxic fumes that can cause
cancer and many other illnesses.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012